


Something to Fight For

by Last of The Walking Dead RP (PunctuationPoint), Ledge, PunctuationPoint



Series: Last Of The Walking Dead [1]
Category: The Last of Us, The Walking Dead & Related Fandoms, The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Crossover, Divergent Storyline, Holy shit there's both walkers and infected, Multi, POV Third Person, Roleplay Server Novelization, This will be a super long fic, Will at least go up to the events of The Last of Us 2, double the trouble, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-04-03
Packaged: 2019-02-01 20:53:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 73,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12712758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunctuationPoint/pseuds/Last%20of%20The%20Walking%20Dead%20RP, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ledge/pseuds/Ledge, https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunctuationPoint/pseuds/PunctuationPoint
Summary: After escaping a group of bandits, Lee and Clementine venture deeper into the city of Pittsburgh. When two strangers show up, they realize they aren't the only ones trying to escape the city. A temporary alliance was forged, but circumstance and secrets force the four into a journey across the country together, to find the Fireflies, and ultimately, the cure that'll save humanity.





	1. Ye Who Enter Here, Part I

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! This is a project I've been working on for a while now. Well, really, it's been a project I've been working on with a couple people for a couple months now. As you can tell by the category this has been placed in, this'll be a crossover fic between The Last of Us and The Walking Dead, but there's more to it than that. The events written in this fic have all been pulled and reworked from a running roleplay Discord server I help run, focusing around Joel, Ellie, Lee, and Clementine. There's a bunch of other characters on the server, spanning across two other groups, but for this story, we'll be focusing on the big four.
> 
> This is only the first part of a two-part premiere. Due to writer's block and lack of free time, the second part will take longer to release. Hoping to have it finished by the end of February, time permitting! For those of you that had read this story previously, the following chapter has been rewritten from scratch, cleaning up the perspectives and hopefully improving the reading experience.
> 
> Due to the AU nature of this fic, most of the backstories for each character have been altered to fit into the new timeline better. Most of this will be explained in the story, but to give a little bit of backstory, I'll mention a few things here first. For starters, this story takes place fourteen years after the apocalypse started, in which both the walkers and the cordyceps infected exist in the same universe. Beyond that, everything will be explained through the eyes of the characters.
> 
> Now, without further rambling, I hope you enjoy!

Clementine’s breath came out in small spurts, her body running on pure adrenaline as Lee tugged her down the street by her left arm. Everything happened in what felt like a split-second, a moment guided entirely by decisions and careless judgments made in the heat of said moment. She sprinted alongside Lee without looking back, hearing the harsh sound of shouting and gunfire following them like a shadow. The only thing going through her mind was the where the next alley or doorway was, her eyes widened in fear. They had to find somewhere to hide, they _had_ to.

Once the gunfire ceased, and the yelling faded into the dense cityscape behind them, they stopped running, slowing down to catch their breath. Her feet burned with the strain, and her face was flushed red while she tried to breathe, only receiving short gasps, verging on hyperventilation. For a moment, all she could do was lean against the side of a brick building, listening to the sound of Lee’s and her erratic breathing.

“L - Lee…?” She called out, stuttering, the words nearly lost in her throat amidst her heavy panting. Lee, however, not unlike the dozens of other times since the day she’d met him, was already one step ahead, trying to force open the front door of an abandoned apartment. It took several kicks, giving her the necessary time to get her breathing under some semblance of control before the wooden door finally gave in. Lee ushered her inside, and she did so with little to no hesitation, closing the broken door behind her.

The interior wasn’t much to write home about, between old, dust-covered furniture and a decaying structure. She wouldn’t be surprised if the whole building collapsed on top of them at any moment, but that little factoid hardly mattered, not when they were so close to the fire already. Clementine’s gaze was focused on Lee, and never wavered, as the older man searched the house in a rushed manner. Her eyes fell to the floor for a single instant as she helplessly struggled to think of what to say to him. Was there anything she could? It was all her fault. He knew it, she knew it, and there was no denying it this time. She fucked up. Words failed her as she choked on them, taking in a deep breath before closing her eyes. _I’m sorry._

Finally, she managed to force the mental blockage out of the way, calling out Lee’s name again, continuing to stand near the door they’d entered through. She waited silently, almost praying for Lee to answer her calling.

There was no answer, which scared her more than she cared to admit. She watched as he pushed the couch dominating the center of the living room in front of the front door, Clementine backing away to give him more room. For a moment, Lee rested against the couch, hands placed firmly on the back of the furniture. His eyes were closed, and he let out a heavy sigh, arching his head towards the floor. In that moment, she felt like a kid again, doing something stupid that only got her in trouble with her parents, and receiving similar looks to the one that Lee had adopted. Back then, her punishments weren’t that severe, and the crimes even less so.

How could you possibly make up for killing a man?

In the heat of the moment, she wasn’t sure what to think. They’d thought the bridge was clear. Hell, they thought the whole city was dead, and then everything changed. When it became clear that the people they ran into were bandits, and weren’t going to to let them go, Clementine did the only thing she thought she could do. It might’ve been the only thing she could’ve done. Weapons were being drawn, harsh words exchanged, and before she knew it, she’d already made the first shot.

Getting in that position was the easy part, it was getting out that sucked. She wasn’t sure how they managed to do it, but they did. Now, she had to deal with the fallout, somehow, if she could get Lee talk to her.

After what felt like an excruciatingly long time, Lee raised his gaze, looking towards her. That look she’d seen before was gone, replaced by one of worry. It was a look she was all too familiar with. “You okay, Clem?” _Are you?_ Clementine answered Lee’s question with a small, quiet nod. She wasn’t okay, not in the slightest, but… just as Lee said, they were fine, or so it seemed. He didn’t seem to notice the look she was giving him, instead continuing on a reassuring tone. “We’re fine. They’re not gonna follow us through here, that’s for sure.”

There was a brief pause, just enough for Clementine to notice her right arm, and how its sleeve had been noticeably soaked in blood, right above her forearm. A bullet graze, easily identified by a sharp, messy cut in her shirt and skin respectively. Yet, despite its small size, it bled enough to become apparent even at a distance. She covered the dripping wound with her left hand as soon as she noticed it, trying to hide it from Lee, despite knowing he already saw it before she could.

“It’s okay, it’s - I didn’t even feel it!” She tried to assure him, although the panic that rose in her voice while attempting to conceal it hardly supported her claim. “They just grazed me. That’s it.” The girl’s gaze fell to the floor in a mixture of shame and embarrassment, that same thought from before repeating in her head. _It’s all my fault._ The grip on her right arm gradually softened, much like her expression. “H - He looked like he was reaching for a gun. I thought…” She tried to explain, her voice shaky. She clenched her eyes shut as words once again failed her, trying desperately to muster the strength to say anything else. They never came.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Lee’s voice forced her eyes open, watching as he placed a hand on her shoulder. “No use running all of those what-if scenarios through your head. You did what you thought was right.” _Was it, though?_ She didn’t have an answer for that one, the thought drifting away almost as quickly as it had come as Lee continued to speak in a soft voice. “We don’t get to know what _could’ve_ happened. That’s just not how it works. All that matters is that we’re both okay, and together.” His eyes had fallen to her arm, Clementine instinctively gulping despite the fact she knew she wasn’t in any trouble, or in any immediate danger with the graze. “Now… let’s take a look at that arm you were trying to hide from me.”

As he glanced at her expectantly, she let her hand fall away from the wound, revealing it to Lee. He knelt on one knee, taking her forearm into his hand before rolling up the sleeve. For a moment, she wasn’t sure what he was going to say, half-expecting the wound to be much worse than she’d thought. That turned out to not be the case, as Lee let out a sigh of relief.

“Lucky for us, it _is_ just a graze. Easily fixable.” He slipped off his backpack as the words left his mouth, dropping it to the ground before digging through it. After a moment, he grabbed a bottle of disinfectant and a clean-ish looking rag, dipping the cloth with a small amount of the foul-smelling liquid. Clementine instinctively winced before the cloth even touched her skin, the light pressure he was applying just enough for the alcohol to sting like a particularly angry bee. She endured it with a slight grimace, simply looking the other way with a pout. Despite how much it hurt, she’d gotten used to it, to that kind of lifestyle, and that kind of pain. Yet, even so, some of those pains never went away. Not a day went by where she didn’t think about her parents, about how much she missed them. About that farm they used to live on, when she was just a kid. That craving only fueled her desire to meet the Fireflies, to finally be able to live peacefully again, with Lee by her side. Maybe someday, she’d find her parents again, too, but she knew that was wishful thinking. The world was big before the it fell apart, it was even bigger now.

Didn’t mean she wouldn’t hold out hope, no matter the cost.

Lee began to wrap the rag around her arm after a moment, the sting fading away as he let out a sigh. She glanced towards him, wondering just what was going through his head at that moment. Was he disappointed? Afraid? Concerned? More often than not, Lee was as easy to read as a book, emotion painted in vivid detail, but others… times like these, his face became unreadable, passive, like a moving statue. Part of her wanted him to just yell at her, tell her that she fucked up, or just… say _something_ definitive about their fucked up situation. But, he was still Lee, unsurprisingly.

“We’ll find a way out of this city, I promise you,” Lee finally spoke, interrupting the short silence that’d overtaken the room as he finished off the makeshift bandage with tape. They knew the way out, and knew the dangers that awaited them to get there, and across it. It’d be a fight, but getting across that bridge was the only way they’d make it out of this city alive. They had to make it, no matter what.

“I know we will,” Clementine responded, wincing briefly as pain flared in her arm. The graze wouldn’t be enough to stop her. Hell, some days, her persistence was enough to carry her through the worst situations, this was just another one of them. She stepped past Lee as he began to pack up the medical supplies, too quickly to even bother lowering her sleeve once more, the thought of thanking Lee simply slipping from her mind. She stopped by the window on her right, leaning on the glass before scanning the barren streets outside. Nothing but broken down cars, decaying buildings, and concrete overgrown with grass. She let out a half-sigh, squinting her eyes. “I don’t see them, but I bet they’re close.” She refused to drop her guard, not even for a second. This city was a death-trap, only proven by the amount of bandits covering every inch of it. She sat opposed to the window, taking off her backpack and placing it on the dusty wooden floor. She grabbed a candy bar from inside, struggling to open it as she continued in a determined tone. “We should figure out a plan.” A smile pursed her lips as she managed to get the package open, gleefully munching on the sweet. _Staying here would be trouble for sure. Especially overnight._

She watched as Lee zipped up his backpack and slung it over his shoulders before approaching the window she sat on and gazing out at the street beyond. For a moment, he seemed to be lost in thought, and Clementine continued to eat the candy bar in relative silence. Finally, Lee cleared his throat.

“Alright, a plan… I’m thinking we-”

The words seemed to die in his throat as a noise emanated from a darkened hallway on the other side of the room. For a moment, Clementine was frozen, her eyes darting from the tiny sliver of candy in her hand to the hallway in an instant. The sound was unlike anything she’d heard before, echoing through the apartment. Croaking and clicking, sounding almost alien to her ears. As she began to stand up, Lee outstretched his hand, stopping her. For a moment, she just sat there, the candy bar forgotten.

_I - Is it a walker?_

She unsheathed her knife, but stayed sitting, as Lee had instructed her. She watched as he pulled out his own knife, holding it tightly in his hand. The noise was coming closer, now, and Lee didn’t move. Whatever it was, maybe it was best that it came to them first, something Clementine mentally agreed with. They couldn’t rush into the dark, not when the threat was unknown.

A silhouette appeared down the hallway, emerging into the dimly lit room. Clementine had been expecting a walker, probably one that’s been here for a long time, and had rotten to the point of sounding even worse than usual, but she wasn’t expecting what stood at the precipice of the hallway.

Whatever it was, it had seemingly jumped out of her nightmares. Grotesque amounts of fungal matter sprouted out of its head, completely obscuring its facial features. Its mouth was the only thing that still looked vaguely human. It moved similarly to a walker, although with more jerking motions, almost as if it was convulsing. It stood still, clicking incessantly, while Clementine’s muscles tensed, waiting for it to attack. Nothing. Whatever it was, it couldn’t see them. Lee took a step to the side, trying to get into a position to attack it. The floorboards creaked ever so slightly, just enough to get the thing’s attention.

It growled immediately, its clicking turning rabid as it lunged towards him, flailing its arms as it screeched. Lee let out a surprised cry, but before either of them could react, it’d already pounced on him. Her eyes went wide as Lee tried to fight it off, only to lose his footing. It fell on top of him, gnashing its teeth furiously as he struggled to try and get it off. “Jesus!”

Clementine couldn’t even think, and it’d probably not even matter if she could. That thing had pounced on Lee in the span of a second, and she couldn’t let it kill him. She rushed towards Lee as fast as she could, panic and adrenaline coursing through her system like a deadly injection, causing her to struggle to even stand up from the windowsill. The thing moved its jaws madly, desperately trying to tear Lee’s face off with its teeth. Clementine gripped the handle of her knife with both hands, focusing every ounce of her strength into burying the blade in its skull. The knife went straight through its temple, a gush of blood flowing from its head like a broken faucet, covering everything around them. She didn’t stop, though, unable to in a fit of rage as she kicked its dead corpse away from Lee, stabbing it in the head again, and again, and again, until it was dead for good… until she knew _for sure_ it was dead for good. By then, every inch of her body was covered in its blood, warm to the touch, unlike that of a walker.

She laid breathless on top of the corpse, only picking her head up when she felt Lee touch her shoulder, ushering her off of it. She looked towards him, his eyes focused on the hallway it’d appeared from, probably in case anything else came charging out. For now, it seemed quiet, and neither of them spoke for a moment. Clearing away the blood from her eyes, she stood up slowly, immensely grateful for making it in time to save Lee. She leaned against the wall with a sigh, readjusting her baseball cap as she took in several deep breaths.

“That was… I don’t even _know_ what that thing was,” Lee breathed in a hushed tone, shock evident in his voice as he stared down at the corpse. Clementine nodded quickly, moving the thick, untidy strands of hair slipping out of her baseball cap away from her face.

“I don’t - I don’t either,” she quickly replied.

“You alright?”

Clementine didn’t answer, shrugging her shoulders before sliding down the wall into a sitting position. The blood from the thing was particularly rancid, running down her face in thick trails and all the way to the soles of her boots, causing her muscles to stiffen in discomfort. _Gross…_

Lee appeared fine, which brought her a sense of relief. She shuffled over to where her backpack still lied, picking up a tiny piece of cloth, along with a bottle of water. “I’m alright,” she finally told Lee, putting on a soft smile once she was finished cleaning herself up and returned the supplies to her backpack. She still smelled _really_ bad, her clothes and hair in particular, but there wasn’t anything she could really do about it besides frowning and moving on.

Her eyes were fixed on the infected’s corpse, memorizing its features. She’d never seen anything like it, but the next time she did, she wanted to recognize it. Next time, they won’t be caught off guard. By the time the adrenaline wore off, all that lingered was the feeling of dread and unease in the air, along with the stench of death. “We shouldn’t wait here long,” Clementine quietly spoke, keeping her head tilted towards the floor.

“As soon as we get out of this place, we’ll figure out a plan,” Lee replied, his breath heavy as well. “And get you some new clothes.” _Yeah, that’d be great._ “Alright,” he sighed, beginning to walk past her, towards the hall the infected had come from. “Let’s scoot. You know the gig, when we’re goin’ down here, take it slow and watch your blind spots.” He pulled out a small flashlight, flicking it on with a small _clicking_ sound, and illuminating the cramped space ahead. Clementine kept close to him, her hand hovering over where her knife sat in its sheath. For a moment, he stood at the precipice of the hallway, listening. She couldn’t hear anything, which was a good sign, right? The infected earlier had been clicking constantly, so they were relatively easy to find… right?

Finally, Lee took a step, then another, and Clementine followed suite. The wood creaked in a way that made Clementine wince every time she took a step. Years of decay had left most homes like this, leaving her worrying whether or not her foot would fall through the rotting planks at any moment. It took a lot of willpower to push those thoughts aside, and keep moving forward. It only took a couple of minutes to clear the rest of the apartment, Lee’s attention being drawn to a broken window in one of the bedrooms overlooking the street running parallel to the one they’d come in from. She watched as he approached the window, his eyes squinted as he scanned the street before finally glancing towards her and nodding. They were all clear. He vaulted over the window frame, landing on the soft grass outside with a quiet _thud_. She followed shortly behind, bending her knees to lessen the short fall. She brushed herself off, dust having collected on her clothes and sticking to the drying blood covering them, before looking towards Lee. He was turned away from her, looking towards a large building about a quarter-mile up the road. Perfect place to get their bearings and figure out a plan, probably.

They approached the building at a light jog, Clementine’s eyes focused on searching each passing street and alleyway for threats. So far, nothing had shown up. She wasn’t sure if she should be relieved or worried, the possibility of someone lurking in the shadows being more than enough to cement said worry in her mind. Finally, they reached the building, another apartment complex, and Lee knocked on the front door a couple of times. After no response, he entered.

The interior was darker than the first, and excruciatingly quiet. Lee searched the ground floor quickly, while Clementine searched for anything useful in the junk left behind in the main lobby. Old clothes in half-packed suitcases, expired cans of food; nothing they could really use. After a moment, Lee whistled, catching her attention and giving her the all clear with a short nod. They made their way to the far end of the floor and entered the last apartment. Lee barred the door with another couch, sighing.

“Alright…” He shrugged off his backpack before sprawling out a map on the dining room table. Clementine held her flashlight towards the map, illuminating it, before she analyzed every street corner, trying to single out the best route to the bridge. “We’re not alone in this city, that much is clear. There’s a lot of ‘em guarding that bridge, and what I’m thinking is maybe… we could take the backstreets to an apartment overlooking the bridge. Around here,” he pointed towards the area on the map, closer to the riverfront. “We observe their shifts, what times of day they’re guarding it. Early hours of the morning, there’s bound to be less there. Could be our chance to sneak right past.” His eyes jumped towards her. “What do you think, Clem?”

She slid her finger across the map, poking its edge right across the fifth avenue. “There’s a coffee shop… _thing_ , right around here, next to the university. _Star_ something. I saw it on our way to the bridge. We can get a good view from there, I think.”

Lee nodded quickly, a small smile crossing his lips. “One of the old Starbucks stores, good idea. From there, we should be able to see what we’re up against and plan accordingly.” _Hopefully._ She let out a sigh as Lee rolled up the map, placing it back into his backpack. “Alright, then. Sounds like it’s a deal. Starbucks it is.”

* * *

“ _Oh, no, no, no no no…_ ”

The brakes squealed violently as the car slowed to a stop, Joel’s voice filling the air from beside her. Ellie stirred from the sleep she’d been fighting off for a while now, her eyes opening slightly. The country road they’d been on before had been replaced by a highway off-ramp. Large brick buildings and overgrown trees surrounded them on all sides. Through half-open eyes, she managed to make out what had Joel so worked up. The road ahead was nothing but a graveyard, mechanic remains trapped in a perpetual traffic jam. _Damn_.

Joel let out another sigh, banging his hand against the steering wheel. “Well, perfect.”

“Now what?” She asked through a long yawn, turning towards Joel. With how things looked, they’d have to head deeper into the city, which would only slow them down. She wasn’t sure if they even had enough gas left to get around all of this shit. _Probably should’ve stolen more gas and less comics…_ She scrunched her nose, a small smile playing on her lips. _Nah, those comics were cool._

Joel frowned, looking off towards the road that led further into the city. For a moment, he seemed indecisive, and Ellie watched him curiously. If the road they needed to take was blocked off, they would have to take another route, right? They only had the two choices. Go back, or go around.

“Screw it,” Joel’s voice was low as he said the words, turning the wheel before taking the cleared exit and heading deeper into the city.

Ellie watched as building after building passed them by, her elbow resting against the windowsill and her hand resting against her face. Dilapidated cars lined the road, torn apart and abandoned, and some were overturned, but each one shared one common theme. Whatever this city used to be, it really _was_ a graveyard now.

The truck squeezed through a narrow path between the cars, almost too narrow to fit through. Her eyes were constantly searching the windows, looking for any sign of the infected. So far, nothing. As they passed an overturned armored truck, Joel brought truck to a sudden stop.

Jerking forward in her seat, Ellie turned towards Joel, annoyance seeping into her tone. “ _Easy_.”

She followed Joel’s gaze, straight towards a figure standing in the middle of the road. The man probably wasn’t older than eighteen or nineteen, wearing a blue and white jacket. He appeared to be alone, and injured, as he limped towards them. She returned her gaze to Joel, worry flashing across her face.

“Hey! Over here! I need some help!” The boy’s voice carried in the wind as he stumbled towards them, and Ellie’s gaze jumped between Joel and the boy in quick intervals. She couldn’t tell what Joel was thinking, his face had turned to stone, his lips curling into a deep frown. It was a look she’d seen before, but she couldn’t quite place what it meant in that moment. Was he going to help this guy, or…?

“A - Are we going to help him?” She asked, raising an eyebrow as Joel began to reach for the gear shift. The boy drew closer, about ten feet away from them now, and still limping towards them.

“Thank God, I thought I was the only person left in this city!” The boy exclaimed, a smile evident on his face. Relieved, maybe, she wasn’t really sure.

“Ellie, put your seatbelt on.” Joel’s voice was harsh and quick, just enough for Ellie to immediately do as she was told. She opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by his next statement. “He ain’t even hurt.”

She felt her body being pushed back as the truck revved, Joel’s foot slamming down on the gas pedal. The boy took a surprised step back as the truck barreled forward, jumping out of the way. As the truck plowed through the street, another man appeared from behind an overturned car, firing off a couple shots towards them. _Oh shit, oh shit!_ Ellie ducked her head as one of the bullets broke through the windshield before flying through the back window, narrowly missing her head in the process. As they sped down the road, swerving around cars, another crack filled the air. The truck shook, and the sound of air rushing out of their back tire filled the air. Before Joel could react, the truck spiraled out of control, plowing through a metal sliding gate. Ellie closed her eyes instinctively, bracing herself for the impact that came sooner than she expected. The air in her lungs rushed out as the truck crashed into the far wall of the building, jerking her in her seat. She struggled to breathe, her seatbelt feeling as if it was suffocating her. She had to get it off - _fuck_ \- they had to get away before those assholes decided to chase after them.

She finally managed to get a breath, looking towards the damage that their truck had sustained with wide eyes. It was totaled, _beyond_ totaled, it was completely fucked. She let out a heavy sigh as she patted herself, searching for any injuries, finding none. “ _Shit._ I - I’m okay, I’m okay!” _Jesus, that was close._

“Come on!” Joel squirmed in his seat, unlatching the buckle before taking in a deep breath. His eyes frantically searched behind them, probably expecting those assholes to show up and pull them out of the truck. No one came - at least, not yet. He looked towards her, cursing under his breath. “We - We gotta get out of here, Ellie.” He pushed his door open before falling to the ground on his knees.

_Shit._

She struggled to remove her seatbelt, her hands shaking violently from the adrenaline surging through her system. After she managed to get it unbuckled, she immediately opened her door, stumbling out into the shop they’d found themselves in. Whoever those men were that were shooting at them, they hadn’t followed them in yet, which meant there was still a chance to escape. Her eyes followed Joel for a moment as she grabbed her backpack from the truck, slinging it over her shoulder quickly. Her eyes darted to where they plowed into the building, the metal gate bent inward in the shape of their truck.

Taking a deep breath, she rushed around the truck to join Joel. “Jesus, that was - _intense_.”

Joel didn’t answer, instead grabbing his own backpack from the truck and wrapping it around his shoulders. His hands were shaky, the first time she’d ever seen him like that. He fumbled with his revolver, opening the cylinder to check his ammunition count. “God… God _dammit_.” He muttered, almost too quiet for Ellie to hear, before he closed the cylinder and pulled the hammer back.

Gulping, Ellie searched the store, looking for another exit. Going back the way they came wasn’t an option. They had to get out of here, _soon_ . Her eyes landed on a door tucked into the back of the room, quickly jogging towards it as she took one last look back towards the hole they had made into the shop. She twisted the doorknob, pushing on the door, and cursed underneath her breath as it remained closed. _Fuck!_ She kept pushing, her ears picking up a faint noise on the other side. Something was being moved out of the way as she pushed.

“Joel! Need some help over here!” She called towards the older man, continuing to push against the door with as much force as she could muster. This was their only way out, and they weren’t about to be killed by some psycho with a gun and some lanky teenager. “Joel, c’mon!”

Joel approached her at a light jog, his face contorted into one of worry. “Watch out,” he told her, taking the next moment to throw his shoulder against the door. He hissed with pain, clutching his shoulder for a second, before backing up by about three feet. He charged towards the door, throwing his weight against it one last time.

The door finally swung open as a shelf on the other side fell onto the ground, making an ear-slitting clattering sound as various objects littered the floor. Ellie clenched her teeth, the sound so loud that she was sure the bandits outside and any infected nearby would hear it loud and clear. Despite this, she squeezed through the half-open door, pulling her knife out just in case someone had barricaded themselves in here and turned. She found nothing inside but a broken window towards the back of the room, overlooking another empty street, out of view of the bandits. _Hopefully_.

Wasting no time, she stepped around the fallen shelf and darted towards the window. “Looks like we’ve got a clearing here,” she called back, taking a moment to knock a few glass shards off the windowsill, hearing Joel’s protest of ‘don’t cut yourself!’ before climbing over it and landing on the grassy concrete underneath. She didn’t hear his next hissed statement, only turning around to see him dropping down next to her.

“Wait for me next time. Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?!” He pointed an accusing finger at her before resting against the brick wall, probably exhausted from the crash.

Ellie resisted the urge to sigh, putting a hand against her hip as she pocketed her knife. “It looked clear to me. I thought it was safe. _Jesus_ , I’m sorry.” While Joel had a point, she didn’t want to admit it. She was more than capable of taking care of herself, and the infected could be dealt with. If there were other bandits around, they’d have shown themselves by now. Nevertheless, she let out a sigh, nodding her head, knowing that Joel wasn’t going to change his mind about this. “Fine. Next time, I’ll follow _you_ , okay?”

With those words out, she finally took a good look around her. Through the small spaces in between the surrounding buildings, she could just about make out a large bridge in the distance. Joel looked towards it, before nodding back at Ellie. “Okay.” He muttered, his eyes focusing on the bridge. “Come on, let’s get going. I can see the bridge from here. We can try and get back on the road there.” He readjusted his backpack straps, looking back towards Ellie with a stern expression. “And stay close. I don’t know how many more of ‘em there are.” Ellie simply nodded, rolling her eyes, before following him down the road once more.

The young girl followed closely behind, the street luckily devoid of any more bandits or infected. The last thing she wanted to deal with was another situation like that. Her heart was still beating at a rapid rate, leading to her taking in several deep breaths to try and calm herself down.

Things could’ve gone worse. Those assholes could’ve had more guys. They made it out alright.

As they walked towards a large truck overturned in the middle of the street, she glanced towards Joel, keeping her voice down as she asked a question that’d been burning in the back of her mind, just in case those bandits were still nearby. So far, they haven’t shown their faces, either biding their time, or lost interest in chasing them. “How’d you know? About it being an ambush?”

Joel approached the overturned truck with quick strides, swearing underneath his breath. He answered Ellie’s question in a monotone voice. “I’ve been on both sides.”

As Joel sized up the truck, Ellie mulled over what he’d told her. “Oh,” she replied softly, her eyes focusing on the large truck. “So, uh… you kill a lot of innocent people?” She wasn’t sure if that was the right question to ask, but it was the only thing that crossed her mind.

The idea of Joel being the aggressor in a similar situation just didn’t _fit_ , at least, not the way she imagined him. He wasn’t the pinnacle of good, either, but he seemed alright. Not bad enough to do something like that. Maybe that’s just something this world made him do, and _she_ was the one who was inexperienced. _Safe to say that’s true._

The older man followed her words with a dismissive sigh, not bothering to look at her. He brought a hand to his forehead, dabbing at it with his fingers. Finally, he glanced back towards her. “It doesn’t matter. Just… c’mere. I’m gonna try and hoist you up over the truck.” He backed up against the truck, crouching down and holding his hands together. She took a step towards him, preparing herself to make the jump when -

A gunshot rang out from the other side of the truck, forcing her and Joel to instinctively duck their heads. A flock of birds were disturbed, escaping into the air. Footsteps emanated from the other side of the truck, voices following them. _Oh, fuck!_ Ellie’s eyes darted towards Joel, trying to figure out what to do. They could wait them out, hope they go off in some other direction, or try and hide. Both were equally risky.

“You missed. A whole flock of birds just sitting there, and you still hit nothing,” a man’s voice chuckled from the other side of the truck, before being followed by another voice.

“I’m about to hit you.”

“Wow. You’re really upset. Y’know, if you want some lessons, I’m more than willing to help you out.”

“Yeah, whatever, man…” The second man let out a heavy sigh. “Let’s just get up and over this truck.”

_Shit shit shit…!_

“Where the hell are the rest? They’re meant to be here,” a third man added, his tone impatient.

“They split off. One group’s on the highway shift and the other went to go and search for those two tourists that fired at our guys. This spot’s been a goldmine for tourists lately.”

It took a lot of effort to keep quiet as the men on the other side of the truck conversed. In unison, Ellie and Joel pushed away from the truck, heading towards the nearest building they could that appeared to be open. The large metal gate had been left halfway up, allowing the two to duck under and take cover inside what appeared to be some sort of… food store? She wasn’t sure what the word was. Shelves that laid completely barren lined the store, along with what appeared to be shelves with glass in front of it along the far wall. If she could hazard a guess, they were used to keep food cold. _Refrigerators, that’s the word._

As they quietly took cover inside the building, Ellie’s foot found a bottle lying in the darkness, which rolled across the room before clattering to a stop against a nearby shelf. The resulting clatter was loud enough to echo inside the small space, which made her heart jump into her throat. “ _Shit!_ ” She hissed the word as she hastily hid behind one of the shelves, next to Joel.

_I really fucking hope they didn’t hear that._

“You hear that?!”

_Of fucking course._

“Hear what?” The second man responded, a dismissive tone in his voice. “Could just be clickers. Not worth spending our time on.”

“No, I heard it too,” the third man interrupted. “It could be the tourists. Go check it out.”

Joel reached around the shelf, grabbing the bottle she’d tripped over. He held it tightly in his left hand as he clutched his revolver in his right, returning to his spot next to Ellie and peering through a crack in the shelf. Ellie gulped, keeping herself close to the shelf. The only weapon she had to her name was her knife, the only thing that Joel let her keep. She wasn’t going to be much help in this fight.

“Fan out. Make sure we check _every_ inch. Remember, orders are to preferably take in **every** tourist we see alive,” the third voice echoed off the walls, indicating that they’ve entered the store.

“Yeah, but no one said anything about beating the fuck out of ‘em first,” another spoke, Ellie finally getting a good look at them between the cracks in the shelves. Their clothes were ragged, well-worn, and their boots crunched on pieces of broken glass on the ground. One man was armed with a rifle, another held a pipe in his hand, and the third held a machete with a tight grip. The man with the rifle was starting to get uncomfortably close to where they were hiding, forcing Ellie to hold her breath.

She stayed close beside Joel, pulling her knife out and clutching it tightly in her right hand. She struggled to hold her breath, taking a moment to breathe in *almost* silently. It was one thing when they were on the run from those military jack-offs in Boston, but this… this was different. Worse. Ever since they’d entered Pittsburgh, it had been one intense shit-show after another, in rapid succession. She had a feeling this place was _crawling_ with these assholes. Based on the way they talked about the city, and ‘tourists’, they weren’t the first ones these fuckers have attacked either, and the mention of another couple of survivors had her wondering just how many people were in this city, being hunted by these assholes.

She waited for Joel to make the first move, realizing that there was no other way out but _through_ them. The three men had spread out now, each covering one side of the building in an effort to find them. With the bandits moving so close, they could easily catch a glimpse of their faces and behavior. Two of the men seemed to be in their early to mid-forties, the first carrying the rifle, and had a stoic look on his face. The second was a teenager, probably around nineteen or twenty, carrying a large metal pipe, approaching from Ellie’s side. Despite his age and fairly frightened demeanor, he seemed ready to bash whoever tried to stand in his way. _Gotta watch him_. The third bandit was much harder for Ellie to place, lighting up a cigar while carrying a hatchet. He appeared laid back compared to the other two, but his location farther away from his group meant he had a larger field of view of the three.

Joel glanced between the three bandits, as if trying to figure out who to attack first. The man with the hunting rifle was getting closer, and the boy with the pipe circled around. He looked out, towards the man with the rifle. The bandit looked to the side for a second, just enough time for Joel to pull on Ellie and lead her along with him to the next shelf. His eyes gleamed with fear and anger, emotions she’d seen in his eyes before, but nowhere near as intensely.

The man with the rifle stopped dead in his tracks. Ellie couldn’t make out what was happening, but knew that something was wrong the instant the teenager with the pipe spoke. “What’s up, Johnny?” His voice was hushed, as if doing so would prevent Joel and Ellie from hearing him. The older man let out a soft sigh, but otherwise didn’t verbally respond to the teenager. Her heart was beating out of her chest, and she clutched the knife tightly. They were close. They were _agonizingly_ close.

“I got you, you son of a bitch!” Ellie let out a soft yelp as the man with the rifle suddenly shouted, having circled around their shelf and hitting Joel over the head with the butt of the rifle. Before she could react, the teenager grabbed her by her left arm, dragging her out of their hiding spot, while Joel was dragged out by the Rifle Guy - _Johnny_.

She screamed out for Joel as he disappeared from sight, only to be rewarded with the harsh sound of glass breaking. The teenager continued to drag her away from the fight with the help of the man with the hatchet, who had since spat out his cigarette. She struggled against them, waiting for the opportunity to break free and rush towards her knife that she’d dropped after the teenager grabbed her.

The teenager cursed foully, trying to maintain his grip on her arm. “Stay still, you little bitch!”

“Grab her other arm!”

“Agh! Let go of me, you little chickenshit!” Ellie screamed as she desperately tried to get away, but they were too fucking strong. As she was dragged towards the center of the store, she could see Joel pushing Johnny into the sharp glass of one of the refrigerators, cutting the man’s throat. He charged towards them with weighted steps, going directly towards the bigger guy holding her back. Their attention was focused on her, probably thinking their friend had things under control. It gave her the perfect moment to distract them for Joel, doing the last thing she could to try and break free. She chomped on the teenager’s arm, hard, clenching her eyes shut as he screamed in pain, cursing while trying to pull her off. She only bit down harder. She had no intention of letting go. She was worried about Joel and the beefier guy, but she knew that he’d be able to take care of himself. She hoped, anyway. Right now, she had to keep the teenager out of the fight.

Ellie let out a pained yelp as the Pipe Dickhead managed to knock her off of him, backhanding her into the ground, but not before Joel had managed to tackle the larger man and smash his face into the hard counter-top behind them. He swiveled towards Joel, letting out a war-cry. She took in a deep breath, the air in her lungs having rushed out due to the blow, before trying to pull herself back onto her feet using the register counter.

“Motherfucker!” The bandit screeched as he grabbed a piece of debris from the ground, smashing Joel across the face with it, then grabbing him by the throat. He managed to wrestle Joel to the ground, getting on top of him, before forcing Joel’s face to sink into a large puddle on the ground.

All before Ellie could even get on her feet.

Her heart leaped into her throat, and she found herself charging towards the man, grabbing the revolver Joel had dropped during the fight and aimed it towards the man.

She clenched her eyes shut for a fraction of a second, bracing herself for what was to come, and the resulting jolt that’d travel through her arm. She pulled the trigger, yelping slightly as the bullet burrowed its way into the teenager’s head. As he fell to the ground with a thud, releasing Joel from underneath the water, Ellie lowered the gun, a small puff of smoke escaping the barrel.

_Jesus…_

Joel rose from the puddle with so much force that he managed to knock the corpse of the teenager off of him, breathing in and out rapidly. Ellie was at a loss for words, the fact that she’d just _murdered_ someone starting to weigh her down. After a moment, she lowered the gun, and spoke in a shaky voice. “I - I… _shit_ , I really shot the hell out of that guy, huh?” Her arms were shaking, and she tried to control it as she stepped towards Joel, trying to help him up. _Oh, fuck. This… this whole thing’s just… so fucked._

Shaky gasps escaped Joel’s mouth as he laid his hands against his knees, trying desperately to regain control. He turned to look towards her as she spoke, his voice hoarse. “Yeah, you sure did.” He stood up shakily before snatching the revolver from her hands and slipping it into his front pocket. Ellie stared him down indignantly, at a loss for words at how quickly he’d managed to take the weapon from her. “I told you not to touch any of these guns.” He spoke, firm and abrupt anger flowing in his voice. He took a few steps back, sitting down on the counter where he’d smashed the other bandit’s head into not a few moments ago.

“‘Oh, and thanks Ellie.’ It’s not like a I had a choice,” Ellie retorted, annoyed. She knew that he was just trying to make sure she didn’t end up shooting herself on accident or something - or just didn’t trust her to use a weapon, which was probably more likely - but it was either that or try to stab the guy in the back. At least shooting him meant that there wasn’t - any more - risk. The threat was over… for now. Clearing her throat, she decided to change the subject, to save herself from another heated argument with the man. “We should… probably get moving, before more show up. Right?” _He probably needs a minute to catch his breath, though. I don’t really blame him._

Joel stared at his feet for a moment, rubbing a hand over his eyes and then through his hair. He looked visibly stressed, and for good reason. Sometimes she wondered just what was going through his mind, an enigma she was still working on cracking the code of. Times like these, he grew quiet, thoughtful, and spoke in short, angry remarks, something she usually responded to in kind. It wasn’t her fault Joel was so prickly. “Yeah,” the word left his mouth in a breathy monotone as he slid off the counter and grabbed his hatchet and hunting rifle from the floor. He slung the rifle over his back, and stuck the hatchet through one of his belt loops. “Let’s get goin’.”

Ellie followed him over to the overturned truck they’d found earlier, her eyes examining the large vehicle with awe now that the moment’s died down. She couldn’t see much of the truck itself from this side, except for the wheels and the underbelly of the vehicle, but it seemed _huge_ . She wondered what it was even used for. Was there that much stuff needed to be hauled around that they needed behemoths like _this_? The thought baffled her.

As Joel positioned himself in the middle of the truck, Ellie approached him, the older man hoisting her up until she could reach the ledge. Once she’d gotten her hands on the ledge, she pulled herself up, grunting from the exertion. As she got to her feet, a sense of vertigo overcoming her as she stood on top of the driver’s window, silently hoping it wouldn’t break underneath her, she took a cautious glance over to the other side, her breath hitching.

 _Holy shit_ …

In a large pile in the middle of the street laid about a couple dozen bodies, all mangled together, charred black and still smoking slightly. The smell washed over her like a wave, causing her to gag uncontrollably. She forced herself to look away, and look for something to help Joel climb onto the truck. Her eyes found a ladder leaning against the other side of the truck, presumably for the bandits to use to climb over.

“Uh, Joel, there’s some… pretty fucking gnarly stuff over here,” she called back to the man, forcing her eyes to remain averted from the sight as they had, once again, drifted towards it. She pulled the ladder up onto the side of the overturned truck.

“Just get me the ladder!” Joel’s voice had pierced the air mere seconds before she managed to drop said ladder down for Joel, the man clambering up the steps in quick movements, pulling the ladder up with him in an attempt to deter anybody from following them. He grunted, eyes focused on the pile of bodies, a flash of emotion she couldn’t quite decipher on his face. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was as scared of what these people are capable of as she was. He said nothing for a moment, looking at the ash pile, before jumping off the freighter. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s just keep moving.”

* * *

After taking a moment to get their bearings and search the place they’d found themselves, Clementine and Lee made their way towards their new destination, mostly trying to stay off of the streets and stick to the alleyways, in an effort to not be spotted. The sun had rose to its highest point, and has already begun its descent, and it seemed that the group hunting them were out in full force near the bridge.

Clementine’s head perked up at the sight of the awesomely large coffee shop standing in front of them, poking Lee in the shoulder while pointing her forefinger in its direction. “That’s it… that’s the one! _‘Starbucks’_.” She read the aloud the large stenciled letters on its storefront in an almost mocking tone, jogging inside while urging Lee to follow her. Needless to say, the place was in terrible condition after being out of business for nearly fifteen years, but for a kid who hadn’t seen something nearly as ordinary as a coffee shop before… it failed to do anything but fill her with adventurous wonder. The girl’s decision to go to the shop was far from coincidence after all, but Lee didn’t have to know that.

Clementine occupied herself with the weird, wonky old stuff inside the shop while Lee searched for a roof access. First and foremost, there was the ancient menu laying under a pile of rubble, which she read and re-read hysterically. _Hot chocolate… iced coffee with… vanilla or caramel. Oh man…_ Next, and not at all less compelling, were the old coffee machines behind the counter. They were all smashed up, probably didn’t work by the time she was born, but that didn’t stop her from poking all over in odd excitement. Lee _eventually_ found a way to the roof, much to Clementine’s dismay, but it was _so_ worth it.

The two sat along the edge of the rooftop, watching the empty city from above, the soft afternoon wind blowing against them. Her eyes scanned over the city with a sense of wonder and fear, a mixture that settled in her stomach in a strange way, but hardly detracted from the view. Skyscrapers towered around them, almost impossibly tall to her young mind. She’d seen cities before, from a distance, but they hardly ever went _into_ one. She didn’t realize just how tall these things were until she was sitting among them. Somehow, they made her feel small, like a tiny speck in a giant urban center.

Her gaze shifted to Lee as he pulled out a pair of binoculars, holding them out towards her with a reassuring gaze. “Go on, tell me what you see.” He spoke as he nudged his head towards the direction of the bridge in the distance.

Taking the binoculars from his hands in mild enthusiasm, she held the two eyepieces in front of her, scanning the golden bridge below. “I see a truck,” she called out worryingly. “Two trucks. That’s probably them.” She glanced towards Lee next to her as she handed the binoculars back to him in frustration. “Damn it…” From the looks of it, their only choice was to wait them out for _who knows_ how long, so they could finally get out of Pittsburgh.

Lee’s eyes narrowed, as if trying to make out the trucks she’d mentioned with his own eyes, a half-sigh escaping his lips. Clementine set her heavy backpack down on the concrete floor, leaning her back against one of the air vents while hugging her knees to her chest.

The streets below were unexceptionally quiet right now, just like she’d been since the bridge. That feeling in the pit of her stomach never ceased, even when she stared around in amazement at all the cool stuff down in the coffee shop. She never forgot what happened, and after a few long minutes of dead air, she spoke up falteringly, calling lee’s attention to her. “Here, take it…”

She held her revolver in front of her with a single hand, looking away in disgruntlement, the revolver’s barrel facing down so that Lee could easily snatch it away by its grip. The girl didn’t say anything else, half-expecting Lee to ask for it himself eventually.

What she didn’t expect was the words that reached her ears. “I’m good, keep it.”

 _What…?_ Clementine’s eyes widened in surprise, her head turning to face Lee in a quick, confused motion. “You don’t… want it back?” She asked, brows furrowed, unsure of how to even react to that. After she shot that guy on the bridge, _killed_ that guy on the bridge… for no good reason, she could barely trust herself with a gun around her.

So how could Lee…? How could he do it so… lightheartedly? The girl struggled to wrap her head around it. The fact that he was so quick to brush it off after she nearly got them both killed only making her feel even guiltier.

“Let’s just say I’m glad _you_ were the one that had it when we ran into those guys,” Lee continued, continuing to baffle her.

“But…” she tried to argue, like somehow she _had_ to after Lee spent so many years doing just that, always adamant on the thought of taking a life. Ultimately, she said nothing, lowering her gaze along with the revolver.

“Some decisions… we make them in a split second, then we have to live with them for the rest of our lives. That’s never going to change, but what we _can_ change is how we react to what’s happening around us and how we make those decisions.” Clementine raised her gaze to look in his direction, but he was turned away, eyes focused on the bridge, before he finally met her gaze. “Knowing how to shoot is one thing, you’re a professional at that. We made sure of that a long time ago. But… knowing _when_ is never easy. That’s something we’re going to keep working on, okay?”

Clementine listened intently to Lee’s words, promising herself that she’d do better moving forward, no matter how difficult things got. “Okay, Lee…” she replied in a soft tone, hesitantly holstering the revolver in its place. Together, the two patiently waited atop the roof, waiting for these bandits to make a move, and their chance to leave the city.

* * *

 

The road to the bridge was mostly uneventful, Henry Simmons too busy trying to make the rendezvous with the leader to bother even listening to the sound of gunfire in the distance. Presumably, the rest of his squad had found the same fuckers he’d ran into earlier. Hopefully, that meant those fucktards would be taken care of, and they’d only have to deal with the  _ one _ shithead father and daughter pair. Nevertheless, he kept going, hoping to reach the bridge before Negan got there. Best to be punctual, even if it meant having to traverse a dangerous fucking place like Pittsburgh to do it. This side of the river was a hellhole, filled with infected, but so far they’ve gotten lucky and missed them. Last thing he wanted was a fucking clicker slowing him down.

As the checkpoint on the bridge came into view in the distance, Simmons picked up the pace, hurrying the fucking kid, Ben Paul, along. They passed through the checkpoint quickly, Henry taking a moment to grunt a greeting to the bridge guards, before going on their way. It wasn’t long before he could make out Negan driving up to the checkpoint in a large vehicle, at least a dozen men filling the back of the repurposed army transport. As the truck came to a stop next to them, Simmons glanced up at Negan in the driver’s seat.

He bowed his head, feeling that kneeling while the guy was in the truck would be a tad too much.  _ Still fucking too much having to do this shit in the first place. _ “Negan,” he greeted, returning his gaze to the man. If Negan was going to come out there himself, then he meant fucking business.  _ These poor fucks don’t know what’s coming. Should’ve fucking given us your shit. _

Negan greeted him with a nod as he opened his door, getting out. Gravel crunched underneath his feet as he slammed the door behind him, taking a minute to look around the bridge. Finally, his gaze settled on Simmons. “Alright, where’re the fucks hiding?” He swung the damned baseball bat over his shoulder with a cocky grin, obviously ready to make an appearance. He enjoyed himself too much, that was one thing Simmons had noted early in his tenure with the Saviors. Simmons had done some shitty fucking stuff in the past,  _ some _ of it he enjoyed, but most… he was a survivor, nothing more. Negan, on the other hand, theatrics were his specialty. This was probably why he was the leader, he knew how to keep people in line, and did it with a smile on his face. Didn’t make Simmons like him, though. He respected Negan, but the only reason he put up with his shit was because it was better than being alone, surviving by the skin of his teeth.

“Uh, I - I think they ran off, sir…” Ben nervously said, putting distance between himself and Negan. He seemed like a lost child, stuck in a place full of adults that didn’t want to help him. Simmons certainly didn’t, but he’d been forced to deal with it for the time-being. “B - But hey, on the bright side,” he quickly added, his voice cracking. “I - I think they left some stuff in their truck!”

Negan’s gaze was steely, enough to have even Simmons feeling uncomfortable. “They ran off, or did you let them go?” He squinted his eyes towards Ben, a frown lining his face. “Why the hell am I here, then? What kind of bullshit is this? I swear to fuck if I don’t get to kick someone’s ass, then it’ll be yours, kid.”

That had the kid shitting his pants. It would’ve been an enjoyable sight, if having Ben so close to fire didn’t mean that  _ he _ was too. 

“We were gonna chase them, but Simmons told me to fall back… before one of us got shot,” the boy stammered, Simmons scowling towards him.  _ Learn to keep your mouth shut, you little cunt. _

“Am I going to have to kill you? Seriously?” Negan kicked at the ground a bit before swinging his bat into the air. Ben’s terrified gaze fell to the ground, as if expecting the blow to his head that was to come, but it never did. Instead, Negan continued. “I’m joking, but Jesus fucking capital Christ - you’re making it  _ really _ hard to make jokes right now.” He tossed a hand into the air in frustration, looking between Ben and Simmons. “I  _ thought _ this shit was handled.”

“I - I honestly thought it was handled too, man! B - But then the crazy old guy just  _ drove _ at me with a truck, didn’t - he didn’t even give me a chance to talk!” Ben sputtered, already losing whatever cool he might’ve had. It was a pathetic display. His breathing had become uncontrolled, and the kid took a moment to calm himself. “Listen, sir, I swear on  _ my life _ … I did exactly as I was told. Me and Simmons, we had this handled, but when I tried getting up to them - th - the psycho just drove straight at me!”

“They’re not getting out of Pittsburgh alive,” Simmons added. “As we were heading here, seems like another one of our patrols ran into ‘em. Those assholes are probably already dead, but we still got the girl with the hat and her father to deal with. Gimme a squad, and I’ll take care of ‘em, sir.”  _ I swear, if this fucking kid gets me killed, I’m going to rip his throat out when I turn. _

Negan chewed on his lip, the agitation in his eyes more than obvious to put a sliver of doubt into Simmons’ mind. They fucked over the situation, that much he’d admit, but he was going to make good on his promise. Those assholes weren’t making it out alive, no matter what. Abruptly, Negan shook his head, shoving Simmons slightly with a gloved hand. Henry resisted the urge to shove back, his natural instinct telling him to do so, yet self-preservation endured. “I’ll give you a group of apes, but the first batch got  _ fucked _ , or did you already forget?” Negan tilted his head to the side briefly, a wide grin stretching across his lips. “I’m fucking going too. So, round it up, and suck it up.”

Ben’s eyes darted between Simmons and Negan, catching the former’s attention. For once, Simmons actually agreed with the kid. Having Negan balls-deep in this mess meant having to do things… by the book. Ultimately, that’d slow them down.

“So, uh… where exactly do we go from here?” Ben finally managed to ask.

“Well, if these assholes are trying to get out of the city, they’re most likely heading  _ here _ . We should tighten up security around the bridge, let them come to us. Lay a trap. Only one way out of this city besides the ambush zone, and they’ve already shown that they’re not looking to go back,” Simmons suggested, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Don’t have to tell fucking tell me twice. Get it set up then, and Simmons…” Negan trailed off, his eyes narrowing as he pointed a gloved finger towards Henry. “Don’t screw this up.” With that, Negan pushed through them, waving a hand onward, as if gesturing them to get to work.

Simmons watched him go, clenching his teeth. He only pulled his gaze away as Ben’s voice reached his ears. “So, uh… need me to do anything?”

Simmons opened his mouth to reply, heavily tempted to tell the kid to fuck off, but was cut off by a shout in the distance.

“They’re fucking dead!” He vaguely recognized the man yelling, Raymond, sprinting towards them, passing Simmons and Ben, before coming to a stop in front of Negan. He hunched over, his hands on his knees, coughing and out of breath. “Negan, sir…” Simmons rolled his eyes as he watched the man  _ try _ to speak, and fail, panic seeming to get the better of him.  _ Spit it out, asshole. _ “Jerry… Tobias… Johnny… they were on their way to meet up with the highway group. They… never made it to the meeting spot. We found them in some grocery store… all of them.” His gaze fell to the ground in despair, not even having the balls to look Negan in the eye. “Some fucking tourist killed them, sir…”

“You’re fucking shitting me,” another man, Brooks, cursed in bewilderment. “T - They killed Toby, too? Christ…” Simmons crossed his arms over his chest, sending a half-amused glare in Ben’s direction. Having friends, this is what happened when you got close to people. It was something Simmons had tried to avoid for a long time. When was the last time he had a  _ friend _ ? Much less one that he cared about and grieved over? Years, at least. Grief made you weak, and that was the last thing they needed right now. Revenge, on the other hand… that was something he could get behind. Brooks rushed to Raymond’s side with a scowl, clearly enraged. “We’re not gonna let this go, you hear me? I’m not gonna fucking rest until whoever did this is  **dead** .”

It was impressive how quickly Negan moved, grasping Raymond’s collar and yanking it upward in a harsh movement, pulling the man back onto his feet. “And you fucking came  _ crawling _ back to fucking cry about it, on your knees, in front of me?” Negan snarled as he pressed his face closer to Raymond’s. “You motherfucking bastard. You better know where the hell they went and what color their piss fucking is to even think about coming back here to tell me like this.” He tossed him backwards, lifting the bat up, but stopping short. He looked towards everyone else surrounding him, Simmons included. “Someone better fucking get something done around here, right now, or I swear to dick and balls that each one of you will get a big ol’ kiss from Lucille!”

_ Guess that’s my cue. _

“You heard the fucking man!” Simmons shouted, directing his next words to everyone left on the bridge. “Get this bridge locked down!”

Without another word, and pushing past Ben, Simmons went to work. There was a lot of work to be done, but by the time they’re finished… the mice will be caught in the trap, with nowhere to run. Those assholes wouldn’t know what hit them, he’d make fucking sure of that.


	2. Ye Who Enter Here, Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been about three weeks since Part I came out, so I figured I'd spoil you folks with two chapters today. From now on, though, I'm going to be trying to push out a chapter every two weeks, give or take (if something comes up that slows me down), so hopefully from now on, things will be consistent! Before we begin, I would like to thank BHBrowne for betaing these chapters for me. You're a cool dude, and I'm glad to have you around!
> 
> Oh, and I don't think I wrote it on my previous chapter, but there will obviously be spoilers for Season 1 and 2 of The Walking Dead (Telltale), spoilers for the comics leading up to the end of All Out War, and spoilers for the entirety of the Last of Us (there'll also be some minor spoilers for Fear The Walking Dead, but most of those won't make this novelization of the roleplay server, due to the character involved not being written as a perspective in this. We will be focusing on Clementine and Ellie for POVs, but will occasionally switch to Joel or Lee as needed.)

Ellie's gaze lingered on the smoldering pile of bodies for a tad longer than she would've liked, only looking away as they passed by it in quick steps. Ahead of them, the street seemed to slowly sink under water, the rest of the road beyond resembling a river or canal more than a side street.  _Is everything out here flooded?_  She thought to herself, annoyance rising inside of her. She was embarrassed when she first admitted to Joel that she couldn't swim, and she hated having to rely on him to get her through these situations. Luckily, several cars lined the left side of the road, each with a plank of wood laid out across them, making the street a relative ease to follow along.  _Bandits must hate getting their feet wet._

As they approached the first car, which was half-submerged in the water, and climbed atop it, Ellie spoke up. She could still smell that putrid stench the burnt bodies put off, as if it'd never go away.

"Are things like this…  _normal_ … out here?" Her guess was 'yes', based on everything she'd seen so far. It wasn't out of the equation that people burned the bodies of those they've killed. She wasn't sure  _why_ , but she wasn't exactly a bandit either, so their logic - or lack thereof - eluded her.

Joel glanced back towards her as they began to walk across the plank, the vehicle bobbing along with their footsteps, making Ellie feel queasy, before they reached the next rotting, yet sturdy plank. "Yeah. It's a lot like this everywhere. Bandits took over most of the major cities." Ellie's gaze focused on the back of his head, picturing the frown he probably had plastered on his face. She was beginning to understand just how dangerous their situation was, and how quickly they needed to  _get out_  before they ended up dead, too. Joel stepped onto the next plank, which creaked and groaned underneath his weight. "The sooner we get to that bridge, the better." He turned towards her again, adding "be careful on that plank. It seems a little weak."

"Okay," she replied quickly, her eyes instinctively going to the plank in question as she slowly crossed it.  _Please don't break please don't break please don't break…_

She let out a sigh of relief as she made it to the other side, the plank having withstood her weight. The last thing she wanted was to fall into the water. At this point, it seemed deep enough that she'd be beneath the surface at her height. They continued in silence, moving from car to car. The only sounds she could hear around her were the metallic  _clang_  of their feet on the metal roofs of the cars and the  _thumps_  on the wooden planks, along with the slight buzzing of a mosquito near her ear. She tried swatting it away, to no avail.

"How much farther? To the bridge?" Her voice was quiet, the ever tightening street starting to make her feel both claustrophobic and paranoid. It seemed that the road was starting to converge from four lanes into two, leaving less room to work with, and less room to escape if bandits showed up. "It didn't seem that far away when we were by the truck."

Before Joel could answer, the ambiance surrounding them was interrupted, the sound of birds chirping and the rustling of leaves from the overgrown buildings drowned out by an approaching engine. Quickly, Joel laid down on top of the car, pulling Ellie down with him and resting a hand on her back.

Ellie's breathing quickened as she watched two people, running and screaming, turn a corner of a building down the street, on a bridge overlooking the street they were on, pleading and begging as they ran. Following behind them was a large vehicle, mounted with some sort of military turret. The sound of heavy gunfire filled the air as the bullets tore into the two survivors.

_Jesus Christ…_

The truck stopped next to the bodies, two men emerging out of it. They stopped next to the woman, who appeared to still be alive.

"Please… I…" she spoke as she lifted a hand towards the man. He stared at her with a blank expression before pointing his shotgun at her head and firing. Blood splattered the street, creating a morbid pattern of blood and brain matter. Ellie clenched her eyes shut, only opening them as the two bandits began to search the bodies.

"Been a busy day, huh?" The taller man asked as he watched the other search the corpse. "Got an ID?"

The other man scoffed, shaking his head. "Nah, this ain't them… pair of old shoes, shitty clothes. They got nothin', let's go." He banged the side of the truck twice with his palm, grabbing a railing on the side of the truck as they drove off. The sound of the engine faded as they turned the corner, leaving the bodies in the middle of the street.

It was over in under a minute.

When the truck disappeared from view, Joel rose from his spot on the ground, shaking his head. "Nothing we could've done. It's not too far now." Ellie watched as he began to walk towards dry land, towards where the couple had died ahead.

" _Jesus_ , what the hell's wrong with these guys?" The question was rhetorical, the sight of that massive truck gunning down those survivors would be imprinted into her memory. She'd seen some stuff while they've been out here, including the pile of burned bodies, but seeing them so mercilessly kill people was… they  _really_  needed to get out of this city. As they approached the dry section of the street, not too far away from where the truck had gone down, Ellie jumped off the car and onto the ground. At least they weren't on some precarious planks anymore, but now they've got murder trucks on the loose.

"They're desperate," Joel replied, his voice indicating that this wasn't really all that strange. "They've spent too much time out here, and figured that  _this_  is the best way they could survive. It just becomes another day in the life; a  _job_."

She instinctively gulped before scanning the streets nearby, trying to make out the bridge through the mass of buildings and trees. She could just barely make it out on their left - which, regretfully, was the same direction the truck had gone.  _It better not come back._  Nearby, the sidewalk lowered into what appeared to be some sort of lowered passageway. Doors lined the passage, presumably leading into what might've been basements, but it would at least get them of the street.

Turning back towards Joel, she indicated the stairs leading into the passageway. "Might be able to hide down here, just in case they come back."

Joel stared at the doors she'd pointed out, before looking down the street, towards the two corpses. He turned back to Ellie. "Alright. I'll go first. Stick close behind me, and if things go south in there, run as fast as you can, got it?" She simply nodded, already clutching her knife firmly in her hand. He pulled the hunting rifle out, ditching his shotgun. With no bullets left, it was just dead weight. It also had surface damage, probably sustained during the fight in the grocery store. He walked down to the doors, his eyes searching each corner of the passageway.  _I really hope this wasn't a bad idea…_  He pushed the door open with one thrust, pulling the rifle up to aim at anything that would come out to greet them.

Nothing came, except for the familiar thick must shrouding the depths of the basement. A dead clicker was slumped against the far wall, vile growths and fungus spreading from its body and covering the walls of the basement. The bacteria protruded out of the corpse's skin, and releasing the spores into the air.

Joel leapt back. "Dammit…" He muttered, before reaching to his backpack and pulling his gas mask off of it. Throwing it over his face, he looked back at Ellie. "We got spores. Keep an eye out for infected down here, things could get dangerous." He slung his rifle over his back, now trading it for the hatchet he had stolen from the hunter earlier. "Alright, let's go." He led her deeper into the depths of the basement, past the corpse.

Ellie let out a cough as the spores entered her system. They weren't a threat to her, thankfully, but it always smelled so  _horrible_ , like a musty room that hadn't been touched in decades, compounded by a thousand. In some cases, that was probably true. Once she had gotten ahold of herself, she followed Joel, scanning the basement area. The room seemed to lead off towards another stairwell, leading deeper underground.  _Well, at least it gets us off the street?_  She doubted those bandits would come down here, it already appeared to have been untouched for a while.

"You see a way out of here?" Joel asked, flicking his flashlight on.

"Looks like it goes deeper," she called back towards him. "Smells like shit in here, maybe it's a sewer?"  _Oh God, please don't be. It smells bad enough as it is…_

Joel nodded at her, his hand firmly gripped on the hatchet's handle, and his gaze focused on the stairwell. "Could be. If it is, at least we won't have to deal with that truck." On that, they could agree. Infected were easy to handle, at least… easier than an armored truck. She knew which one she'd choose. He began to climb down the stairs, glancing back towards her briefly. "You still got that joke book? With the puns?" He asked, a mumble as he used his free hand to guide him along the guardrail.

She let out a disappointed sigh, reminiscing over the puns she'd read in that book. "There wasn't a lot of good ones left, so…" she trailed off for a moment before a small smile twisted her lips, "…I came up with some of my own. Oh  _oh_ , here's one I came up with on the drive here. 'How did the clicker know when it had a good idea?'" She paused, for dramatic effect, before continuing, a hint of glee in her voice. "It  _clicked_. Get it? Because it's a clicker?" She had to stifle her laughter, not wanting to make too much noise in the confined space, which only grew darker as they descended the stairs.

She could practically feel Joel's eyes roll. "Awful. That was absolutely awful. I hope the other ones you made were better than that one." He said, a half-chuckle escaping him. Ellie simply smirked.

"I guess you'll have to find out," she replied. She knew that was going to be Joel's response. Hell, she'd nearly groaned herself when she thought of it. Nevertheless, as the stairs opened up to what appeared to be some sort of sewer system, she thought better than to continue giving out more of the out. Who knew what might be down there, besides the obvious.  _Shit and clickers. Fantastic combo._

Her nose wrinkled at the smell; it had been so long since the beginning, she was surprised that it still smelled this bad, but maybe time just compounded the smell into something worse. The infected didn't help things, either. The tunnels only grew darker with time, and the concrete surface stickier; she didn't want to know what the sticky stuff might've been. She already had a good guess.

Joel stepped over a discarded baseball bat, dried blood covering the handle. The owner was nowhere in sight, but Ellie could only assume they'd died trying to kill the infected. As Ellie followed suit, Joel looked back towards her. "Tell me if you see  _anything_. And I mean  _ **anything**_." His voice was quiet and muffled, but she understood it all the same. He faced forward again, trudging through the shit and piss stuck to the floor. Ellie had to resist the urge to gag, the smell invading her nostrils as if it'd never come out.

As they drew deeper into the tunnel, the yellow haze only got thicker, more fungal growths attached to the wall becoming more and more common, feeding off the moisture in the air. Her eyes focused on them, as if they'd suddenly sprout and impale them. It was fear talking, but still was enough to have her quicken her pace. Her heartbeat was pounding in her ears, only to feel as if it had burst when a grotesque figure jumped out at Joel, flailing it arms. It screeched and croaked, and as soon as it looked towards her, it retreated into the depths of the tunnel before either of them could pull out a weapon. She could hear it croaking in the distance, just barely, over the sound of her heartbeat.

She'd stumbled backwards, only barely catching herself against the sewer wall as the infected disappeared from sight. It felt as if her heart had jumped into her throat, and her breathing was rapidly reaching hyperventilation, only fueling the sickening feeling in her stomach due to the spores. For a split second, she wondered why it didn't attack them, but quickly lost that train of thought. Right now, her mind was focused on  _getting the fuck out of there_ , and not throwing up her lunch.

"I - I saw something…" She finally managed to get out, letting her knife slip back into her pocket, her hand having instinctively gone for it.

Joel stood still in front of her, his fingers clenched around his hatchet. He looked towards her over his shoulder, although Ellie couldn't make out his expression through the gas mask. "Stalkers. Watch out. And stay aggressive, they should back off. If one gets too close though, I can take it." He held himself in a defensive stance, looking back and forth. "Check behind us, they're sneaky. Set up ambushes. Probably setting one up right now."

"Right, yeah.. stay aggressive… got it," Ellie spoke in a hushed voice, the sudden sense of fear that'd jolted through her system moments ago still coursing through her veins. She turned to glance down the sewer behind them, squinting to make out anything in the darkness. So far, she couldn't make out anything, which was good… right? Or was that bad? She was too scared to ask which.  _C'mon, you can do this. They're just skittish, like a cat. Cats are like that, right?_  She'd only see a cat once or twice, although she wished they showed up more often. Would've made living in Boston a bit more  _hospitable_.

She pulled out the knife again, nervously flicking it open and closed as they continued through the tunnel, her eyes darting back and forth, looking for that  _stalker_  from earlier. So far, nothing.

The croaking of it continued to echo through the sewer tunnel, as if taunting them. Ten minutes passed without incident, although it was starting to sound like they were being followed, the sound of the stalker continuing to be constant. Ahead, their side of the sewer ended abruptly, a plank was set out in between their side and the other. In between the two sides, the sewer floor was covered in about four feet of sludge, filthy and vile. If it got on their clothes, it'd definitely be a bitch to get back out. There was only about a foot and a half of distance between where the board laid and where the sludge began. Whether or not the board would support their weight remained to be seen. Up ahead, the sewer tunnel forked off, taking an abrupt right turn. Trace amounts of light seemed to flow from the tunnel.  _Thank God, an exit…!_

Joel looked towards the board, his expression unreadable. "We can't turn back now. Come on." He put one foot on the board, before taking another cautious step. He tossed his backpack over the gap first, Ellie following suit with her own bag, before Joel slowly made his way across.

Surprisingly enough, the plank remained stable, making it easy for Joel to quickly cross the gap. Ellie followed shortly behind, before knocking the plank into the sludge with her foot. She looked up towards Joel.

"That way it can't follow us," she replied, explaining herself. She figured it'd be the best option, after all, that sludgy shit looked deep. Maybe it'd just get stuck trying to get to them, unless it could jump, but even then, it  _could_  potentially not make it.  _Hopefully_.

Joel nodded towards her, approval evident in his voice. "That's a good idea." Ellie found herself smiling a little as Joel said that, although that feeling quickly faded away. They weren't out of the woods yet. "I think we're almost out of this tunnel." He continued, taking the lead.

They made their way towards the adjacent tunnel, the light they'd seen earlier getting brighter as they continued. It seemed that the spores were slowly dissipating, too, although still too much for Joel to remove his gas mask. As they continued down the new tunnel, the source of the light came into view, a half-open pothole. As they examined it, they could see the side of a brick building towering over the street above.

"Oh, thank you," Ellie sighed, looking up at the pothole opening with what could only be described as relief. If she ever had to go into another sewer again, it'd be too soon. They'd been lucky, for the most part, too. Ellie waited for Joel to make the first move, knowing that he'd only yell at her if she did something without asking him first, like he did back at the repair shop. With how things have gone since they've got here, she'd rather just do what she was told anyway, as much as it pained her to think that. Joel, at least, knew what he was doing, and  _hopefully_  wouldn't get them killed.

Joel's eyes were focused on the pothole for a few seconds before he glanced back towards her. "Alright. Ellie, I'm gonna have to hoist you up again, alright?" She simply nodded, readying herself. If the murder truck was still out there, she had to be prepared to make a run for it, as soon as she was able to get Joel out. While she focused on the pothole again, Joel seemed to have been rummaging through his backpack, slipping it back on as she returned her gaze to him. He extended out the pistol she killed the bandit with earlier towards her, his voice echoing in the tunnel. "Back there, at the grocery store, just so we're clear… it  _was_  either him or me." He knelt beside her, pointing at parts of the weapon. "This is the safety. Keep it on whenever it's in your pocket or whenever you're not using it. Even if the safety's on, never point it at something unless you're gonna shoot it. And always have your finger off the trigger, unless you  _have_  to fire your gun. Remember, this pistol's only for  _emergencies_ , got it?"

Ellie's eyes focused on the weapon being handed to her for one long second, taken aback by the fact Joel was giving it to her, especially since he'd been adamant about her not using one, and his outburst back at the convenience store. Gulping, she merely nodded, taking the weapon from him before pocketing it. "Okay."

_You're welcome._

She looked towards the pothole, examining the wall underneath it. Looked like there was some sort of ladder built into the wall, but the bottom section of it was retracted. If Joel lifted her up, she  _might_  be able to just pull it down as she's climbing up. Finally, she returned her gaze to Joel. "Okay, okay…" She let out a long breath. "Let's do this."

As Joel lifted her up, she reached out for the bottom rung, just barely managing to wrap her fingers around it. Grunting from the exertion, she used her feet to propel herself upward, managing to get a bit further up the ladder, before unlatching it from where it'd been locked in place. The ladder slowly fell to the floor with a faint metallic creak, before making a soft  _clink_  on the ground. Knowing that Joel would be right behind her, Ellie continued to climb, pushing the pothole cover out of the way.

She clenched her eyes shut as the sunlight blinded her, pulling herself over the lip of the hole and onto solid ground. The smell of old standing water filled the air, and she noticed another flooded street down the road. It might've been the same one as before, she wasn't really sure.

Once Joel joined her on the street, she took in their surroundings. In the distance, the bridge loomed larger than ever. They were close. A sign was in the distance, barely hanging onto the metal poles it'd been fastened to. Among a few city names was presumably the name of the bridge.

_Fort Duquesne Bridge._

"Looks like we're almost there," she said victoriously, a smile on her face. They were almost out of this hellhole, just a hop and a skip away.

Before Joel could say anything back to her, the sound of a truck filled the air, coming from a side street not ten feet up the road. The truck from earlier came into view, before stopping in the intersection ahead.

By this point, Joel had already taken off his gas mask, and his eyes were widened. Ellie searched the street, hoping to find a place to hide, but only found a row of dumpsters lining the far end of the road. Beyond the dumpsters was what appeared to be a dilapidated coffee shop, the name half-faded away. If she squinted at it, she could  _barely_  read the word 'Starbucks'. Joel crouched down, leading Ellie towards the dumpsters in quick movements. She struggled to keep up, her breathing in hitches. Within seconds, the truck could open fire on them, and they'd be just another dead body to rot away on the street.

"Goddamn it," Joel groaned, looking up towards the store. "C'mon, we can wait there while the truck passes." He rushed towards the back of the coffee shop, probably looking for a back entrance that would lead inside the building. Most of it was covered in thick vines, obscuring the brick building in a thick, mossy substance. It wasn't long before Joel managed to find the door, tearing down the vines hanging over it. Grabbing the handle, he twisted, pulling the door open before ushering Ellie inside.

While Joel tried to get the next door open, Ellie watched the back entrance, hoping those bandits wouldn't hear the noise and follow them here. Her hand hovered over the pistol in her pocket, while she held the knife in her left hand.

' _For emergencies only.'_

With how things were going, she was willing to bet an emergency was going to crop up at any moment, but she'd rather make sure it was the right time. Last thing she wanted was for Joel to take the weapon back because she chose the wrong moment. She'd only just got it, after all.

Finally, the door made a cracking sound, along with the sound of something scraping against the floorboards on the other side of the door, before it swung open. Ellie turned around to face Joel, preparing herself to enter.

Joel glanced towards her, nodding his head. "Alright… stay down, they might be able to see us through the windows." He pulled back the hammer on his revolver, eyes glaring forward as he entered the shop. Ellie followed shortly behind, knife still clutched in her hand. It was empty, at least, it appeared to be. The feeling of unease had her stomach doing flips, and she only gave the ruined coffee machines and piles of paper cups a passing glance. There wasn't much to see, really, but at least they were hidden from that truck, for now. That's all Ellie could really hope for. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too long before the street was clear once more.

* * *

Clementine didn't realize how bored she was until the sound of a military vehicle filled the air from beneath the building. Lee had peered over the edge, then looked towards her, concern etched across his face. As he pulled away from the ledge, he was already insisting that they should get off the roof and get back down to the lower level of the coffee shop, at least until nightfall, so they wouldn't get spotted. Clementine didn't argue; at least the windows inside the shop were mostly boarded up, making it easier to lay low until nightfall.

However, as they made their way down the stairs, Lee stopped in his tracks, squinting as he peered into the darkness of the large shop. Clementine stopped behind him, straining her ears to hear anything. There was a faint chatter coming from below, muffled behind a door. Two, maybe three people from what she could hear.  _Did they find us?_  The first thought that entered her mind was that it was a bandit patrol. Maybe they saw them on the roof, or searching the building for them at random. Either way, it spelled trouble.

Lee took a step back, forcing Clementine to follow suit, as he eyes remained locked on the door at the back of the shop, before he snapped his gaze towards her. "Find somewhere to hide,  _now_!" He hissed, waving her off.

Clementine took cover behind the counter, keeping every step as light as possible as she crouched over to her temporary hiding spot. As she leaned against it, hidden from sight, she used every second they had to prepare for whatever they were about to come across on the other side of that door. Starting by swinging out her revolver's cylinder, the girl loaded it one chamber at a time with the few remaining rounds she kept in her back pocket, clicking the cylinder back into place the moment she was done, now solely waiting on Lee's signal.

As the door was forced open, Lee had darted into one of the vacant rooms near the kitchen, beyond her line of sight. She kept her breathing calm, silently psyching herself up for what was to come.  _Don't worry, Lee's got this. And you got his back. This won't end like last time._  Before the last thought filtered through her mind, Lee's footsteps echoed, rushing towards the first bandit that entered, and grabbing the man in a flannel shirt from behind.

"Fucker!" The word roared from Lee's mouth as he wrapped his elbow around the man's throat. Clementine peeked over the edge of the counter, waiting for her chance to help, but for now, it seemed that Lee had it under control. That was, until the man threw his elbow back into Lee a few times, kicking and grabbing at Lee's legs, before trying to toss him into the coffee shop's counter, right where she was hiding. She instantly crouched, hoping she wouldn't be seen, and only clenched her eyes shut as the bandit let out a war cry.

_Stay hidden. Y - You gotta stay hidden. Lee can take care of him. Don't worry…_

Lee was coughing from the blow, but she could hear him fighting back. A second set of footsteps filled the air from her left, a voice that didn't sound like it belonged to a grown bandit following. "Hey asshole, let go of him!"

The next thing she heard was Lee's pained yelp as something slipped into him, Clementine instantly raising herself to see what was happening, only to see a girl latched onto Lee, yanking a knife out of his back. She raised her arms to go for another stab, but Lee raised his hand just in time to block the knife, which cut into his forearm, before he finally managed to push her off. For a split second, he froze, murmuring something that Clementine couldn't make out.

That's when the older bandit leapt back into action, eyes flaring with what could only be described as rage. Before Clementine could even move, he was on Lee, fists raised and thrown in heavy hits, landing on Lee's face. The man's knee was digging into Lee's stomach, pinning him to the ground.

Lee wasn't fighting back anymore, instead it seemed that he was trying to stop the bandit, yelling while blocking the bandit's punches. "Listen, man!" The words died in his throat as the bandit reached for his hatchet, before he reached for a glass bottle that had rolled off the counter and swung it at the man's head, breaking into hundreds of shards. The axe implanted itself into the counter, leading to Clementine's heart to pound violently in her chest. She couldn't stay here any longer. She had faith in Lee, always did, but things weren't… he  _needed_  her help. She hated Lee's insistence on keeping her out of the way whenever something mildly threatening stood in their way, but this… this wasn't something that Lee could take on alone.

Throwing cautiousness out the window, she climbed over the counter, tackling the girl who previously stabbed Lee in an effort to separate her from the fight. They both violently tumbled and rolled on the floor her head hitting the hard tiled floor with a loud  _thud_ , stunning her.

 _Agh… fuck…!_  Clementine struggled to stand up, everything around her becoming a blur. The painful sting in her head was probably the worst part, a small stream of blood falling into her right eye, descending all the way from her forehead as a result of the impact. No matter how hard she tried to get her body to move, her arms and legs simply failed to respond. She could barely make out the girl through her blurry vision, but she was able to see that she had fallen on her knife, pulling it out of the back of her shoulder, before letting out a cry of pain. That was when the girl's attention had fallen upon her.

For a moment, she seemed confused, but it only lasted a second. She lifted herself off of the ground, approaching Clementine in quick steps, before pulling her head up from the ground by one of her pigtails, holding the knife to her throat. She could feel the blood that covered the weapon, and she didn't dare move, feeling a mixture of anger and unconditional fear. The girl shouted towards the Lee and the other man, her voice sounding more scared than she would've thought. "Let him go, or I'll kill her!"

All these feelings of fear and anger that bubbled in her stomach hardly compared to the frustration that overwhelmed her, having to put Lee into this situation. Lee had managed to get the other guy off of him with that bottle, and was in the middle of reaching for his gun when the girl had shouted towards them. His gazed swiveled over towards her, and without hesitation, he backed off, raising both of his arms as he limped backwards.

"Take it easy, okay?" He spoke softly to the girl, almost pleading. Clementine gulped. "This was just a misunderstanding, I thought your dad was one of them, too… just let her go, it's not her fault. Please."

The girl loosened her grip on Clementine, but hadn't let go completely.

"The bandits?" she asked, probably trying to clarify who Lee was talking about. Finally, it seemed that the girl was satisfied with Lee's answer, quickly pulling away from Clementine's neck. Once her grip on her had softened, Clementine crawled away staggeringly, wiping the blood away from her face for the second time that day. The girl continued to speak in a dry tone. "Well, yeah. You, too."

The other man grabbed the gun, pulling it up and aiming it at Lee. For a moment, he hesitated, before Lee's exchange with the girl had apparently dawned on him. "You're not hunters." He lowered the revolver, looking between Lee and Clementine. "Who the hell are you people?!" His voice was abrupt and angry, eyes squinting towards them with suspicion.

"Same as you…" Clementine managed to say, answering the man's frankly senseless question, before supporting herself on the coffee shop's walls in order to stand up, "…we could've just talked!" She shouted, addressing everyone in a bitter tone.

"Hey! You attacked first!" The girl snapped, her angry glare focused directly on Clementine. Clementine rolled her eyes, only looking back towards the girl as the other man sent her a remark.

"Ellie, settle down."

"Look… we've been running into those damn hunters all day. It's just put us on edge," Lee raised his hands, lowering them with a sigh, before hobbling over to Clementine's side. For a moment, he checked her over, mumbling a faint "shit…" as he noticed the blood trickling down her eye. "Don't think it needs stitches. We'll fix it when we get somewhere safe."

_Somewhere away from these two, you mean?_

He turned his gaze back to the man, a pained grunt escaping his lips, which forced Clementine to look towards him. The wound on his back wasn't looking good. "I thought you were with them… that was, until I saw  _her_ ," Lee looked over towards the redheaded girl. "They, uh… don't keep kids around. In case you haven't noticed."

The man kept his gun trained on Lee for an uncomfortable amount of time, before he finally pushed the hammer back down, shoving the barrel of the revolver into his pocket. "Yeah." He wrinkled his nose, looking between her and Lee. "How many are with you?" He asked, eyes glancing back at Clementine, which she responded to with a glare of her own.

"It's just us," Lee groaned, moving around his bloody shoulder as if trying to get feeling back into it. "We didn't realize those assholes ran this city until it was too late. We've been caged in for almost a day now, tried getting out using the bridge, but they've got it locked down tight, ambushed us." He sighed, his features relaxing slightly. "Ever since, we've just been trying to get the hell out of here. Somehow."

"You stabbed my friend," Clementine remarked towards the other girl coldly as Lee and the other guy talked, before shifting her attention to said friend. He really did look awful, just… awful. Worst of all, she could hardly feel bad about it after he tried to pick a fight on his own.

 _ **You**_ _find somewhere to hide next time…_  Clementine wrapped both arms around Lee, helping him to a chair opposed to the Ellie's. "What'd you expect me to do…?" She spoke up again, in a much softer tone, shooting the question back towards the girl.

Ellie rolled her eyes, clearly trying to take the high road. "Well, if he didn't attack  _my_  friend, then everything would've been peachy," she replied in a bitter tone, frowning towards Clementine as she tried to apply pressure to the stab wound on her own back. She let go after a moment, before rummaging through her backpack, and pulling out a shirt. She held it over the wound, hissing in pain. "Not like any of us had a choice," she continued, returning her gaze to Clementine.

The man stepped towards Ellie, taking the shirt from her. " _Ellie_." He said her name disapprovingly, seeming to be the only one in  _his_  group to have any common sense. While he tended to Ellie's wound, he continued his conversation with Lee. "What are you saying? There's no way past the bridge?!"

Clementine ignored the conversation, instead focusing on what the girl had said. She felt like hitting her after that comment, in spite of it being a more than fair assessment. Maybe it was all anger, or maybe she just wasn't mature enough to admit that Lee and her were wrong after that stupid scuffle. It was, after all, much easier to keep pointing fingers instead.  _Just shut up._

"You hit really damn hard, you know that?" Lee spoke to the stocky man, digging through his backpack. He shook his head after a moment, responding to the man's question. Clementine knew what it meant. There was a way out, they just had to wait for the right moment.

"Yeah, well, I was trying to kill you," the man sighed, looking towards her and Lee as he finished cleaning up Ellie's wound for her.

"Listen… the name's Lee, and this is Clementine," he sighed, exchanging a glance with her.  _Lee, no. Don't. They tried to kill us._  Clearly, he wasn't listening to her thoughts. "I think I caught your name was Ellie?" He continued, looking between the other girl and the older man.

"Don't strain it too much, alright?" The man told Ellie, taking another strip of the girl's spare shirt and dabbing his face with it. He turned towards Lee again. "Joel," he threw his name back.

"Stay still, okay?" Clementine asked of Lee, doing her earnest to ignore Ellie on the opposite table. Stitching wasn't so hard when you didn't have to do the stitching on yourself. It took a few sloppy strokes, a few winces of pain, and a lot of time, but Clementine managed to stitch Lee's wound. It looked… almost good.  _Scars are way cooler than stumps._

Lee simply nodded at Clementine's request, continuing his conversation with the man. "Since we're both  _trying_  to get out of this hellhole, maybe we could help each other?"

 _Help each other?!_  Clementine asked herself, just barely containing the urge to raise her voice. For a moment, the girl wondered if  _he_  was the one with the concussion. After the guy, 'Joel', almost killed him…? After Ellie held a knife to her throat?! What the hell was Lee thinking? And he didn't even consult her, because that'd be too fucking thoughtful of him. Screw Ellie, Clementine wanted to hit Lee after that comment.

Joel spared a glance towards Clementine, who tried her best not to punch the look off his face. "She your daughter?"

Lee shook his head instantly. "No, uh… we're not related," he spoke rather awkwardly. It was a question he got a lot, Clementine noticed, dating back to the day they met all those years ago. Right now, she wasn't focused on that question, her brain still spinning from hearing Lee's stupid offer.

"I guess we could help each other, if you have a plan to get past the guards on that bridge," Joel continued, finally accepting the shitty offer that Lee had given. Clementine simply let out a sigh, realizing now that she wasn't going to be able to get rid of them. For now, they were stuck together.

"We've got a hideout up on the rooftop. Can get a good view of the bridge. It'll be safer if we chat there." Lee rolled down his shirt as the bleeding stopped, before tending to Clementine's graze on her temple, dabbing away at the wound with a clean disinfectant-soaked rag.

And so, it was her turn, much to her consternation, but it was a breeze compared to what she had just put Lee through. Having to take turns stitching each other up was something she definitely  _wouldn't_  miss once they've finally found the Fireflies. And, as Lee finished, she watched as his attention returned to the other two.

"Hideout, huh? As good a plan as any," Joel had replied as he finished wiping the blood off of his face, tossing the dirty rag to the floor.

"You guys aren't related too, are you?" Lee asked, genuine curiosity evident in his voice.

Joel ripped the hatchet from the counter, then looked towards Lee. "No, we're not. I'm…" He looked towards Ellie, then back at Lee. "I'm watching over her for now." His eyes fell to the hatchet in his hands, before sticking it through his belt loop. "Lead the way."

Clementine still couldn't believe it. She wasn't willing to trust these strangers yet, but it seemed that Lee already did. What made him so confident that these two were good people? They've met plenty of seemingly good people before, and it always turned out the same. She watched as he zipped up his backpack, slinging it over his shoulders, before going to pick up Clementine's gun off the floor. She hadn't even realized she'd dropped it.

"Here," he outstretched his hand as he gave the gun back to her. She took it quickly, looking between him and the strangers. She knew what Lee was doing. Joel wasn't giving him a weapon, but he had Clementine to watch his back. If they tried  _anything_ , she'll be ready. "Alright, this way," he nudged his head in the direction of the stairway, before ascending the steps. Clementine followed behind Joel and Ellie, her hand hovering over where she had stashed her pistol in her pocket. Trust was something these people needed to earn, and it wasn't something she was readily willing to give. Nevertheless, they made their way up to the roof together, for better or for worse.

_I really hope you're doing the right thing here, Lee…_

* * *

 The walk to the roof of the building was spent in an awkward silence as the two strangers led them to their 'hideout'. After everything that they've been through to get here, Ellie still didn't trust these guys yet. But they were, at least, nicer than the bandits around here. She was certain of that. The girl, Clementine, definitely didn't like her, although she wasn't all that surprised. She did stab her friend then put a knife to her throat. She'd be furious if she had to be around someone who did something like that to her and Joel.

Once they reached the roof, she let out a sigh of relief. At least, there wasn't anybody here waiting to ambush them. Maybe these guys weren't so bad after all. She took in the view, the sun beating down on them in warm waves of light. After the past month of terrible weather, it was nice to have some warm days again. She'd packed her jacket into her backpack, and hoped she wouldn't need it again for a good long while. In the distance, she could see the bridge clearly, and it looked just as they feared. Barely visible, but visible nonetheless, were several specks walking along the bridge, guarding it. Too many to take on all at once. Especially with just her and Joel. Like it or not, they'll probably need help. They were all in the same boat.

As Joel and Lee stood at the edge of the roof, talking amongst themselves, Ellie turned her attention to Clementine. Perhaps the best place to start off after everything that happened would be an apology. Not that she was very… good, at those. Nevertheless, it was worth a shot. The girl had chosen a spot far away from Lee and Joel, lying down on the floor. She didn't even look up at her as Ellie approached.

"Hey, uh…" she slowly spoke, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, already feeling the urge to back away before this girl managed to kill her… somehow. "Sorry about… y'know, stabbing your friend, and holding a knife to your throat. It was… a dick move."

Clementine shot her a glare, rolling her eyes before facing the other way.

"Right. Okay. Yeah. That's fair,  _I guess_." Ellie fumbled over her words, taking a step back, away from the girl. She couldn't really blame her, after everything, but it still made her feel  _shitty_. Guess that was the point, but still. Joel and Lee wanted to work together, they might as well  _try_  to get along.  _Guess that's not happening._

Not saying anything more, she leaned against a nearby air conditioner unit, pulling out her knife and trying to clean more of her blood off of it. Her back seared with pain, but otherwise was taken care of. For now. She didn't know much about wounds, but it'd probably need cleaned. She whistled softly to herself as she cleaned off the blade, still not quite getting the hang of it. She was almost there, but the whistle still sounded too airy. Didn't help that she was trying to keep quiet, but with Clementine being… presumably how she  _normally_ was, then she had nothing else to really do while the two men talked.

 _Can try to make up some puns about her hat. Maybe. Looks old as hell._  She shook her head, pushing the thought away.  _Make friends, Ellie, not enemies._

She listened to the conversation Joel and Lee were having, watching as Lee crossed his arms over his chest, looking down at the bridge in the distance. "Oh, believe me, we've tried… but it's too damn guarded," he spoke as he reached out a pair of binoculars to Joel. "They've been grouping up down there for hours…  _almost_  like they're expecting us."  _That's because they probably are._  He turned back towards Joel. "What I'm thinking is… we wait until sunset, in the early hours of the morning, they should be down to a skeleton crew. With most of them gone, we sneak right past 'em."

Joel leaned over the side, his gaze focused on the bridge as well. She could practically see the gears moving in his head, weighing the potential risks and rewards involved in Lee's plan. Finally, he pushed himself away from the ledge, handing Lee the binoculars back. "That could work." He replied, nodding his head. He leaned against another air conditioning unit, popping the air from his knuckles. His gaze went past Lee and towards Ellie and Clementine, who Ellie had strategically placed a significant distance in between her and the aforementioned girl with the hat.

"It  _will_ work. They might have the numbers, but most of them aren't smart." Lee sat on the ledge, following Joel's gaze.

"Doesn't look like they're gettin' much along," Joel continued.  _Yeah, well… I tried._  Ellie couldn't help but think, averting her gaze from Joel and Lee. It wasn't her fault that Clementine was acting like a total bitch.

"Yeah…" was all that Lee said, sighing. "They're just kids. They'll come around… You seem worried," Lee emitted a half-chuckle, and she wasn't sure if that comment was regarding her and Clementine or something else entirely.

Joel paused. "…Yeah." Ellie's gaze fell back on them again, as Joel examined his knuckles. They looked bruised, probably from beating the shit out of the bandits in the convenience store. "Lee, they ain't just kids. I don't know. She's a good kid, but she's got a fire in her. Your daught-" Joel stopped himself, starting over. "Clementine seems to be the same way, maybe a bit different." There was another pause, enough that Ellie forced herself to look away again, busying herself with the knife. "Where are you two headed, anyways?"

Lee seemed to mull over the question for a long moment, cautiously looking towards Joel. Finally, he spoke up. "We hear the Fireflies are based somewhere out west. We're gonna join up with them."

That caught Ellie's attention, if anything else they were saying hadn't already. They were looking for the Fireflies too? Joel raised his eyebrows, seeming surprised by the answer. "Hmmph." He muttered, scratching at the back of his head. She wasn't sure what was going through his mind, maybe considering how truthful Lee was being? It's not like he even knew that they were looking for the Fireflies, too, so it had to be the truth, right? "Seems like a lot of people are putting their stock in the Fireflies these days."

There was a sense of skepticism in Joel's tone, obviously faked. If he didn't believe that the Fireflies could get the cure from her, he probably wouldn't have taken her this far. At least, that's what she liked to think. He was probably also in it for… whatever Marlene had promised him. It'd have to be a  _lot_  to cross the entire country, though.

"Yeah, well, maybe there's a reason for that," Lee replied in a defensive tone. Joel grimaced, looking between Ellie and Lee. It didn't take long for her to figure out that Joel was testing Lee, seeing just how much the man wanted to find the Fireflies. It was a smart tactic, especially if they had to stick together after the bridge. At least they had a common goal in mind.

"So, you don't know where they are, and you're just gonna drag her across the country to find 'em?"

Lee's eyes narrowed, and he leaned closer towards Joel, his tone defensive. "Listen, how about this… I'll worry about my girl, and you worry about  _yours_."

Joel held up a hand. "Easy." The tension was palpable in the air, and she wasn't sure if Clementine was even listening to what was happening to even get clued in to it. "We're tryin' to find the Fireflies, too."  _Looks like Lee passed the test, then._  Joel rubbed at his chin, sighing. "Look, I saw that you don't have any weapons." With that, Joel took the axe from his belt and handed it to Lee. "Figured you can't be entirely defenseless when we decide to get out of here." He paused, before adding, "I don't suppose you're a good shot, are you? I'd be willing to let you borrow the rifle when we head down."

The tension left the air as soon as it had appeared, a look of surprise had washed over Lee's face. "Thanks," he breathed before looking down at the axe as he accepted it from Joel. "Yeah, was trained to use those things a while back from someone I knew." He paused for a moment, looking down at the ground. Finally, he continued. "Look, uh, I don't know what you guys are planning on doing after we cross that bridge, but you and your girl are welcome to join us on the way to the Fireflies, after we get this done."

Joel smiled faintly, just enough for Ellie to make it out. "Thanks. I'll talk to the girl about it." He stepped away from the A/C unit, nodding towards Lee. "I reckon we better get some rest before our big night." He walked past Ellie, glancing at her for a moment, as if telling her to follow. Ellie begrudgingly stood up, pocketing her knife. Looks like they were sticking with these guys. As long as Clementine didn't end up stabbing her with her own knife, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Maybe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again, special thanks to the roleplayers on our discord server. Art, who plays Clementine; Ledge, who plays Lee; and Kentucky, who plays Joel.


	3. Cornered

" _Hey Clem, it's time._ "

Clementine slowly opened her eyes, letting out a soft groan as the cold morning breeze agonizingly struck the side of her face. Somehow, the floor managed to get even colder, as if she'd fallen asleep on top of a frozen lake. Lee's face filled her vision, having knelt next to her in order to wake her up.

"What…?" She managed to ask in a whisper, still half-asleep. The look Lee gave her in response, however, was more than enough to catch her up to speed. "Oh." She uttered the word whilst hastily rubbing her eyes, sounding almost flustered as she did.

It didn't take long for her to notice the fact Ellie and Joel were still hanging around with them, much to the girl's displeasure. Lee had already taken the time to explain to her that they were also searching for the Fireflies, and they'd be traveling together for the indefinite future. It didn't make her any less hopeful that they'd just take off before nightfall. Still… part of her, one that was hidden away behind a mountain of rancor, was actually glad they stuck around… thrilled beyond measure to see another girl her age, someone she could really talk to. A friend, maybe…?

She didn't have any friends, that's how it's always been. Just her and her parents living on their own. Sometimes, she wondered if that's why she could never forget about Duck or Sarah. Having a friend only ever left her feeling hurt, beaten. It used to be something Clementine longed for more than anything else in the world, but somewhere along the way, that feeling became weakened, shattered. Lee was the only person she ever wanted to have to care for, because she knew he would never leave her.

Clementine clutched her revolver, checking its cylinder to ensure the rounds from yesterday were still loaded and counting the bullets in her back pocket one by one: five in total, including the six she had loaded at the moment. Restless, and with arms crossed, Clementine waited for the time to leave, ready for anything.

Across the roof, Joel was waking up Ellie, tapping her shoulder. She could barely make out the the words he was saying. "Ellie, come on. It's time to go."

The girl let out a small groan, stretching her arms out as she let out a long yawn.  _I know how you feel._  Being so tired was making Clementine grumpy, and that feeling was exacerbated by the fact it was only an hour or two past midnight. Ellie stood up, then, letting out a pained grunt before clutching as the knife wound on her back.  _Yeah, you earned that one._

As everyone gathered in the middle of the roof, Clementine used the moment to collect herself, gathering her things and her thoughts. This wasn't going to be a walk in the park. Looking into the distance, it seemed that the bridge was definitely less guarded now than it had been, but still enough to be dangerous. They'll need to be careful, wait for an opening. They just needed to be… patient.

She noticed Ellie looking towards her, and responded to it with a glare of her own. She wasn't in the mood for whatever game Ellie's trying to pull, and it seemed that the glare was enough to force the girl's gaze away. Her eyes diverted towards the bridge, before returning to the group. "So… what's the plan?"

"Joel and I can take the lead, clear us a path towards the checkpoint," Lee started, looking between each of them. "As long as we stay quiet, and stick together, we shouldn't have too much of a problem. The guards at the checkpoint have a spotlight, so stay out of the light and we'll be hard to see. In the odd event that anyone gets spotted, and we're forced to shoot, one well-placed shot at the spotlight will make 'em blind. The checkpoint is the only place that's guarded, so once we're through, we navigate the streets until we reach the bridge." He took in a breath. "Okay?" He looked around the group, only receiving nods in return. "Okay." He said the word more confidently, something that Clementine picked up on, but she was sure the others hadn't. This was a risky mission, and Lee knew it. They both knew it, but it wasn't like they had a choice. It was either kick the hornet's nest, or wait to die. She knew which one she'd rather choose.

* * *

The four survivors slowly made their way towards the bridge, sticking to the buildings and alleyways off the streets, while watching every corner in an attempt to not be ambushed again. Instead of directly approaching the checkpoint on open road, they decided to enter a building to the right of the checkpoint, which would make for good cover. They wouldn't be seen, at least, by anyone on the perch or on the street, giving them the chance to see what they were up against before trying to sneak past.

Even from the inside, they could hear chatter coming from the streets near the checkpoint. Hell, Ellie could almost make them out in the darkness through one of the windows, the spotlight being shone from the streets only making it easier to count how many were out there. The spotlight switched positions frequently, meaning they'd have to avoid it once they left the building. As they took cover behind some worn furniture, Lee slowly peeked down the hall.

"I see two up ahead," he whispered, facing Joel as Ellie took a peek for herself. Two men were talking near a barrel fire, too quiet for her to make out the words.

Joel frowned, and he pointed towards one on the bandits. "I'll take left." He whispered, continuing forward.

Ellie peeked over the couch again, looking towards the two bandits Joel and Lee were quietly approaching. Her hand instinctively went for her knife in her pocket, holding the weapon tightly in her hand. If things went south, she'd make sure to back Joel and Lee up.  _They don't seem that tough when they're not… y'know… trying to kill us. Clementine and Lee, too._

She glanced towards Clementine, who was crouching beside her. She still wasn't talking, which was… fine. Twelve hours on top of a roof, and you'd think she'd at least say  _something_ to her _._   _Don't really blame her. But still… it's awkward as hell._  The girl definitely seemed capable, though, so she was sure if things went south, the pair of them could handle things. Hopefully.

She watched as Joel approached the bandit on the left, grinding her teeth together anxiously. This was only the beginning of their attempt at escaping this hellhole, hopefully these assholes won't see them coming, and things go smoothly. After the past couple of days, smooth sailing would be welcomed with open arms.

Lee advanced towards the man on the right, looking towards Joel, waiting for the signal. When it came, Lee pounced, wrapping his arm around the bandit's neck, who tried to claw at his face. Soon enough, though, both bandits fell silent, falling to the floor with a thud. Ellie let out the breath she'd been holding, watching as the two men searched the corpses. Lee held a couple of large bullets in his hand, while Joel held up what appeared to be a nail bomb, similar to the one that Bill had given Joel back in his town. The victory was short-lived, however, as voices from outside pierced the air.

"Hey guys, you hear that?!" Ellie searched the street to find the source of the voice, focusing on a man that was standing on top of the perch, pointing away from the checkpoint. A familiar clicking noise filled the air, and it didn't take long for Ellie to find the lone clicker that had wandered into the street, about fifty feet away from the checkpoint.

"Yeah, I hear it, but I don't see it. Get eyes on it!" Another man shouted, the spotlight swiveling to find the clicker. The sniper who shouted began taking pot shots at it, the noise of the rifle deafening her ears. Whoever they had working that spotlight wasn't a great shot, it seemed, as he continued to miss while she counted up the men surrounding the checkpoint.

They had the one person on top of the perch, operating the spotlight and the sniper rifle. On the street, there seemed to be at least seven men patrolling, spread out across the area, seemingly unaware and in a relaxed state. That fact alone baffled her, the fact anyone can feel relaxed with the infected around.  _These guys are dickheads, just waiting to be bit in the ass_. The gate to the bridge was closed but didn't seem to be locked, which meant they weren't expecting trouble this late at night. If they could get past the spotlight, they could sneak right in. The sniper was too busy trying to take out the clicker, so it'd be relatively safe for them to advance onto the streets. Several broken down cars and barricades were scattered across the road, which made easy cover for them.

"Alright, how do we wanna do this?" Lee asked Joel, forcing Ellie's gaze away from the window they had huddled around.

Joel grimaced, looking out towards the bandits fighting the clicker. "We could run to those pillars over there," he pointed to a series of pillars holding up the roof of a crumbling building across the road. "I don't see anyone over there. Looks safe while he's fightin' that clicker."

Clementine instantly shook her head, frowning. "We need to come up with some kind of distraction," she hissed. "There's  _way_  too many of them to sneak through. We'll get spotted for sure." She pointed towards the cars in the distance. "See those cars down there? If we can find one with a working horn… we'll get their attention away from the bridge, away from  _us_ , and send a crowd of walkers their way." A smile had crept its way across her face, and she answered her own plan with a confident "I can do it," which she followed with a slight shrug.

Joel scowled, a wry face that made his nose wrinkle. "No," he scoffed, narrowing his eyes. "Only thing you'll get attention from is the clickers and runners, and they're more trouble than they're worth. The 'walkers' or however you said it aren't in this city. We would've seen 'em by now if they were, or so I've heard. Considerin' all the noise that rifle's making, then I highly doubt that a car horn will do anything."

Clementine returned Joel's scowl with a scoff of her own, his reasoning probably only provoking her. Ellie knew that he had a point, but didn't voice that. "Trouble for them," the girl pointed out with a half-smile. "It'll work, as long as we get their attention away from the bridge."

Everything about this plan was risky, including this horn idea. But, there wasn't much else they could do to get through these assholes, so… it might be their only choice. Ellie returned her gaze to Joel and Lee, adding in a hushed voice. "It might be worth trying. Even if it just distracts them, that gives us a chance to take them out." She scrunched her eyes to see better in the darkness, trying to pick out a car that might be worth trying. There was one near the intersection behind them, a fair distance away from the checkpoint. "We can put something against the horn, and just let it wail. The guards will have to check it out, giving us a chance to get inside." She took in a breath, returning her attention to Joel. "Clementine and I can handle that, while you take out the spotlight guard with the sniper."

It wasn't a perfect plan, but it could work. Just enough of a distraction to divide their forces, and let them take them out one-by-one, or sneak past.

"They do have a point," Lee stated, looking towards Joel as he sighed, his gaze returning to Clementine, and then to the sniper position on top of the perch, who finally managed to kill the clicker. "Maybe they can use that corpse over there, put it on the horn. What do you think?" He indicated the dead clicker's body, left to rot in the street, before looking back at Joel.

Joel looked conflicted, sighing before giving Lee a quick nod. "Alright. Let's do it. But they can't use the clicker's body." He squinted into the darkness, towards the corpse in question. "It'll start releasing spores, and…" He looked back towards Ellie, and she knew just what he was thinking about. What information he was withholding from the the two strangers. "…And it could infect one of them." His eyes focused on the corpses of the bandits they killed earlier, slumped by the barrel fire. "We could help them grab one of those, drag it to the car."

"Clickers? That's what you guys call those things?" Lee frowned for a moment, as if trying to understand everything Joel was telling him. His confusion left Ellie feeling just as confused, wondering how he'd made it this far without knowing what the infected were, but maybe there was less of them from where he was from. It was the only logical answer. She knew there was another strain out there, seen it herself, but surely the infected were everywhere, right? Nevertheless, Lee managed to sigh and nod his head, accepting the new plan. He turned back towards her and Clementine, whispering, "Alright, plan's on."

The two adults quickly made their way to the corpses, dragging it towards the car. Ellie and Clementine followed shortly behind, looking out for any patrolling bandit that wanders too close. With each sweep of the spotlight, they ventured further, stopping each time the light came too close to revealing them. With the sniper not expecting company, it seemed that he'd gotten lazy, not really bothering to search every nook and cranny with the large light. It worked in their favor, though, so Ellie wouldn't complain. When they finally reached the car, Joel and Lee slumped it against the side, peering over the top of the vehicle towards the spotlight.

Lee opened the driver's door, before looking back towards her and Clementine. "Alright, we're gonna head over to those pillars. Give us a minute or two to get into position, and as soon as we hear the horn, we'll wait for most of them to come down here. As soon as they start coming down, you guys come to where we are, that's when we'll take out the spotter. Then, run for the gate, got it?"

"I got it, just go. We'll take care of it." Clementine was the one to speak, quickly nodding towards Ellie. The gesture left her stunned. The entire time she was on that roof, Clementine wanted nothing to do with her, and somehow she doubted that she wanted anything to do with her  _now_. Nevertheless, Joel and Lee took that as their cue to get going, hurrying towards the other side of the street.

For the first time, she was left alone with the girl that hated her guts, and she was starting to regret that decision.

Clementine sat in the driver's seat, clutching the steering wheel tight enough that her knuckles turned white, before finally letting go and crossing her arms against her chest. Ellie could tell based on the way that the girl looked at her that she didn't like the idea of pulling this off with her  _at all_. Once again, she didn't blame her, but that was precisely the point on why Ellie had suggested they do it together. Not only does the girl need someone to watch her back, but they needed to repair whatever…  _this_  was. If they were going to be traveling together, they should at least  _stand_  each other's existence. Ellie was too proud to say that out loud, though. Also, the idea of annoying Clementine by just being there was a fun enough thought. Annoy the girl without actually doing anything. Of course, she wanted things to be less awkward between them, but she still wanted to get back at her, after all.

Ellie eyed the dead guy on the ground next to the car, purposely keeping her gaze averted from the girl in the driver's seat. The two of them  _should_  be able to get it inside, and onto the horn.  _Hopefully it works._  Choosing not to tempt fate by sitting in the passenger seat, Ellie sat against the side of the car, hidden from sight from the checkpoint. She pulled out the pistol Joel had given her, popping out the magazine. Two bullets. She'd have to make every shot count if things got out of hand. She pocketed the pistol, before glancing up towards the open driver's door. She wasn't sure what to say, if there was anything to say at all. Last time she tried apologizing to the girl, she basically gave her the cold shoulder. Sighing, she chose to do the next best thing.

"Are they in position yet?"

_Keep it simple. Right._

Clementine's feet were resting on the dashboard of the car, and she answered Ellie's question in a neutral tone, one signifying that she'd rather not be talking to her right now.  _As usual._  "Nope."

_Great. Thanks. Good talk._

Ellie let out an annoyed sigh, before pulling herself to her feet. Hunching down so she wouldn't be seen, she watched for any movement from Joel and Lee. In the distance, she could just about make out Lee giving a thumbs up from their position.  _Thank you._  She let out a breath, turning her attention to the girl in the car.

"Looks like we're ready to go. C'mon, let's get this asshole in the car." She began to hoist up the dead bandit, hoping Clementine would get out of the car and follow suit. Unless she wanted to be a dick, but there wasn't enough time for that, right?

She felt the man's weight become lighter as Clementine clutched the man's other arm, hissing under her breath, "I'll take the left."  _Good. She's saving the dickishness for later, then._  Together, they raised the corpse from the asphalt, both letting out heavy grunts from the sheer effort it took to do so. After carrying the body inside the car, they sat him in the driver's seat, his head collapsing against the steering wheel, and the horn, which caused an intense, resounding sound to echo through the streets of the once quiet Pittsburgh.

"Why's a damn horn going off?!" One of the bandits shouted from his position.

"Don't know, but it's making a fuckton of noise. Turn it off before we attract attention!" Another bandit shouted back, and Ellie spared a glance over the top of the car. Several armed men were making their way towards them, the man on the spotlight frantically trying to shine the light on the right car.

"Alright, let's move," Ellie whispered to Clementine, having to raise her voice slightly to be heard over the loud horn blaring next to them. They had little time to get somewhere hidden before those bandits converged on their position. Ducking down, she examined their surroundings. If they ran to the left, they could hide behind some barricades lining the far side of the street. Without saying a word, she gestured for them to cross to the other side. Her body was bent low to the ground, hoping that the spotlight guy wouldn't see them moving through the street. Once on the other side, behind cover, she pulled out her pistol again. Things might kick off here soon, and she wanted to be ready for it. With the two bullets she had.  _Gotta make 'em count._

She waited for Clementine to reach the barricade, hoping that their luck won't run out before this thing's even begun.

Clementine began to move towards her, but something jerked her back, tripping her. Through the darkness, the glint of her revolver shone enough for Ellie to make it out, as it skidded away from the girl with the hat.

"Agh, fuck!" Her shout pierced the air, probably loud enough for the bandits to hear.

 _Shit!_  The guy they'd placed into the car began to attack Clementine, horror flashing across Ellie's face.  _I thought he was dead, Jesus Christ!_  Cursing, she quickly rushed back over to the car, slipping her pistol back into her pocket before grabbing her knife. She still had to keep things quiet, before the bandits got here and found them.

As she drew closer, the bandit fell out of the car, right on top of Clementine. As the girl struggled to get the guy off, Ellie approached, knife ready. Without missing a beat, she tried to pull the guy off, stabbing him in the back, right where his heart would be. She wasn't sure if it would reach, but the wound should be fatal enough to kill it. The fact he even turned was surprising, as they didn't have any bites from the infected, and her mind was going too fast to make sense of it. As her knife plunged deeper into its back, it just kept going, getting back onto Clementine. Her mouth went wide, as for a moment, she was struck with surprise. That'd normally kill an infected… Cursing, she pulled the corpse back again, this time aiming for its head. She stabbed it through the cranium, hoping that did  _something_. As the blade pierced flesh, the bandit fell silent, the guttural growl it'd been making ceasing in an instant. With the silence that ensued, without the horn to hide them, Ellie pulled the dead bandit to the side, off of Clementine.

She didn't have time to gloat, or do  _anything_. They had to run,  _ **now**_. Reaching out her hand to help Clementine up, she hissed her next words. "C'mon!"

Clementine grabbed it instantly, standing up with Ellie's help, following her to the barricades on the far side of the street, after she managed to grab her discarded revolver from the ground. They took cover behind one of the barricades, Ellie silently hoping that none of the armed guards on the bridge managed to spot them running away.

"T - That was…" Clementine uttered the words, wild-eyed, stopping mid-way in order to catch her breath. "…Thanks." She finally spoke, almost too quiet to hear through the commotion surrounding them.

After how ice-cold Clementine had been to her over the past day, hearing her say 'thanks' for saving her was… among a few things she wasn't expecting to hear, but good to hear nonetheless. At this point, she wanted to say something, but thought better of it. No point dragging out this competition going on between them for longer than it needed to be. Even if she totally wanted to gloat, the situation demanded that they focus on the task at hand. Finally, she replied to the girl's statement, with a simple "no problem."

As Lee approached them, she let out a sigh of relief. It was best to just… move on, from this, and get the hell out of this city. "You guys did it, nice work," Lee's voice carried over to them, just quiet enough to not carry any further. "Joel's working on getting the gate open. We gotta get there fast before they wander back. Everyone okay?"

"We're good," Ellie instantly replied, keeping her voice down. "Let's just… get out of here." The bandits were still nearby, just now reaching the car they'd used. Too close for comfort.

Lee exchanged a nod with the two, before glancing towards the gate. "This way," he whispered, making a break for the gate. By the time they reached the massive gate, Joel was already holding it half-open. Lee rushed to help him keep it open, huffing out his next words to Clementine and Ellie, "Go, quick!"

Before anyone could move, however, the sound of a roaring engine filled the air, forcing Ellie to turn and see the truck from earlier turn the corner of the street, the turret swiveling towards them. She was blinded by a flashlight attached to the turret, and a harsh voice pierced the air.

"It's the fucking tourists! They're here!"

Joel and Lee pushed the two girls inside, the two adults pushing the gate closed before Lee threw down the barricade. Ellie hunched over, trying to regain control of her breathing, coming face-to-face with that death truck again being enough to push her over the edge. She could hear Joel muttering a curse nearby, his voice drowned out by the sound of her own heartbeat in her ears. "We gotta move! They'll break down the gate!"

Ellie forced herself back into the game, searching her surroundings in quick movements. They were in a blocked off area, a large trailer separated them from the road leading to the bridge. There was, however, a small ladder attached to the side of the trailer, but half it had been torn off. They wouldn't reach it easily without a boost from someone else.

Screaming and yelling filled the air from behind them, on the other side of the gate. "They locked the damn gate! Ram it down!"

Clementine pulled out her revolver, aiming it towards the gate, while looking back at the rest of the group. "Go! If they get through, we'll hold 'em off!"

"Up there!" Lee shouted the words as he quickly rushed towards the ladder, waving Joel over. "Think you can get me up there? Need to make sure it's safe, if it is, I'll help you get the kids up first, from the top."

Joel nodded, crouching down and placing his hands together. He looked visibly shaken, and that was enough to put Ellie on edge. They were going to die here, weren't they? This was the end. Caught between a rock and a hard place.  _Or a killer truck and a shitty ladder._  "Come on, let's go!" Joel shouted the words towards Lee, who placed his boot in Joel's hands without hesitation. As Joel pushed him upward, Lee reached out for the ladder, grabbing the bottom rung. He let out a pained yelp, his wound on his shoulder likely flaring with pain from the exertion. They watched as he finally made it to the top, looking over to the other side.

"I can see it! Bridge is right there, and it's clear!" He shouted back to them, kneeling down by the top of the ladder. "Alright, c'mon kids!"

Ellie's eyes were focused on the gate, however, as the truck outside began revving. "Shit, shit, shit…" Lee called out once more, which was enough to tear her gaze away, returning her attention to the man atop the vehicle. Cursing under her breath, she took a few steps back, before getting a running start. She was hoping her momentum would make it easier to bridge the gap between the bottom rung of the ladder and herself. As her foot made contact with the side of the truck, she pushed upwards, hoping that it'd carry her the rest of the way. Luckily, her hands managed to find the bottom rung, clasping the bar for dear life. Pulling herself up, she reached out for Lee's hand, before being pulled up beside him. Letting out a breath of relief, she kneeled next to him, preparing herself to help lift Clementine up. The faster they got this done, the better. That truck would be ramming the gate at any moment.

Clementine holstered her revolver, sprinting towards the trailer, before propelling herself upwards, just barely latching on to the lowest step. Before her fingers could give way and send her crashing down to the earth, Joel gave her a tiny bit of support, holding her in place long enough for Ellie and Lee to grab her hands and pull her up. With the three on the trailer, only Joel remained, but the ladder didn't make it, tearing itself off the side of the trailer. The last push from Clementine's leg had finished it off, and it fell to the ground below with a loud crash, effectively trapping Joel by himself at the bottom. The truck continued to ram away at the gate, only getting louder.

Joel cursed, before looking up at them. "Grab me when I try to make the jump!" He yelled, taking a few steps back. He had his back against the wall of the opposite building, preparing to make the running leap. Lee, on the other hand, pushed himself to his feet, cursing under his breath.

"Uh… we can…" He muttered, searching around them, looking for anything they could use to help Joel up. Ellie flinched every time the truck rammed the gate. Any minute now it'll tear through, and it'd all be over. Finally, Lee leaned back down again. "Alright, alright! Just hurry!" He waited for Joel to make the running jump, but Joel had fallen short, tumbling back down to the ground below. "Fuck!" Lee's eyes were focused on Joel, getting back to his feet as he paced back and forth, finally looking towards the gate. Ellie watched his every move with bated breath, waiting for him to do  _something_ , anything to get Joel up here, but found herself stunned as he took a step back.

"Shit man… I - I'm sorry, we're leaving!" There was a hint of pain in his voice, which only fueled the fire burning within Ellie, and as Lee hauled Clementine away from the scene, jumping to the ground on the other side of the trailer, she couldn't help but shout back at him in bewilderment.

"Jesus, what the fuck, Lee?!"

Ellie cursed under her breath as she returned her gaze to Joel down below. Without another thought, she sat on the edge of the trailer, hopping off, bending her knees to dissipate the brunt of the fall. She landed next to Joel, brushing herself off, before letting out a frustrated sigh. After everything they've been through today, that asshole really just left them?  _Really?!_

She glanced towards Joel, the anger she was holding towards Lee evident on her face. "We stick together," she finally spoke. No way was she going to go with Lee and Clementine if Joel wasn't coming too. Joel looked at her, nodding, but didn't say anything, as if the words were stuck in his throat. Her eyes darted towards the gate as bullets began to fly through it. The bandits were getting desperate. Her eyes focused on the far wall, a closed metal gate coming into focus. "C'mon, maybe we can get through there!" Without waiting for Joel to follow, she rushed towards the gate. They didn't have time to linger.

With Joel's help, they pulled the metal gate up, just enough for Ellie to get through. The truck was speeding forward behind them, the engine humming and purring before squealing. "Oh shit… c'mon, get into the building! Go!"

Ellie didn't waste any time ducking underneath the gate, cursing under her breath. "Okay… okay…" she grabbed a hold of the chains on the inside, before calling out to Joel. "Alright, go!" As Joel ducked into the building, the chains began to slowly move, despite the amount of force she was using to keep it raised. Finally, she let go of the chains, the gate closing in an instant as the bullets began to ricochet off the metal. "Oh, fuck!" She breathed, leaning against the wall for a couple of seconds before turning her attention to Joel. "Agh,  _shit_ , how the fuck do we get out of here?!"

The room they were in appeared to be some sort of storage room, shelves lining the brick walls. The truck hummed in the distance, as voices cut through it. They were looking for another way in, which meant their window to get out of there was closing fast.

"Go around the other side!" Someone screamed outside, but Ellie ignored him. The storage room opened up into what appeared to be some kind of bar. The building stretched onward, and it seemed to lead out onto the street beyond the trailer. The bullets had stopped at this point, which meant their time was running out. At the end of the building, there was a door that led out onto the street, and the bridge was visible through the windows. However, the door was chained up.

Joel threw the cart out of the way, pulling the door open just enough for them to duck through. "Come on, hurry!" He waved her over, and she wasted no time rushing towards the door, trying to squeeze through.

For a moment, she found herself stuck, her backpack keeping her in place.  _Goddamnit!_  Her eyes darted towards the locked gate across the way, the truck revving once again.  _Shit shit shit shit, c'mon!_  Finally, she managed to break herself free, and get onto the street. She waited for Joel to join her before letting out a heavy sigh. They just had to start running, and maybe they'd get there before the truck managed to find its way in.

It wasn't long before it actually did, breaking down the gate, which swung open on its hinges with a loud groan.

"Over there! They're running to the bridge!" A voice shouted out as bullets began to fly, the car speeding after them. Joel stumbled to the ground, although Ellie was too focused on running for it to even register in her brain. She kept running as the bullets grazed the wall next to her.

 _Oh fuck, oh fuck!_  She'd never been shot at by a truck with a fucking machine gun on top of it before, and it was safe to say she didn't like the experience  _at all_. Her breathing was in rapid, quick successions, only catching a brief glimpse of Joel running behind her as the two of them barreled through a crack between a bus and another trailer, before jumping over a guardrail that had been blocking off the only way through. On the other side, her breathing hitched, and her heart skipped a beat. Beyond the barricade lied… nothing. The bridge had collapsed, leaving no way out.

"Oh, fuck!"  _Come the fuck on!_  Her mind was screaming now, as she paced around the edge of the bridge, like a trapped animal. They had nowhere to go. She looked towards Joel desperately, hoping he knew what to do. They were out of options here, and she saw only one way that would  _probably_  not result in death. It was safe to say she didn't like the option, though.

Realizing that the two had been trapped, the truck began to repeatedly ram the vehicle separated it from her and Joel. Time had already run out.

Joel turned around, looking towards her anxiously. "How many bullets do you have, Ellie?" He said, looking through his revolver. "We have to fight them off. Maybe I could… I could hoist you up, you could sneak around them."

Ellie shook her head immediately, almost refusing to hear the words Joel was trying to say. "They're going to kill us," she snapped, indicating the truck with a wave of her arm. Her eyes returned to the dark river below them. It looked close enough… maybe. It was their only choice. It was either death by gunfire, or death by water. She wasn't sure which one she'd prefer. At this point, she refused to be gunned down, though, not after everything they've survived. If there was a chance, they had to take it. "Joel, we need to jump! Y - You'll keep me afloat! We can do this!" She knew Joel wasn't going to agree, she could see it in his eyes.

"No! Goddamnit Ellie-!"

"No time to argue!" She shook her head, letting out a heavy breath. As the truck began to ram the overturned car again, she turned around and ran towards the edge, making a leap of faith that could possible kill her.

She wanted to convince herself that it wouldn't, and that Joel would be able to save them both. She wasn't able to do that, but that didn't stop her from jumping anyway.

For what felt like a long, agonizing moment, she was suspended in mid-air, holding her arms over her face as she came crashing into the water. The impact forced all the air she'd collected into her lungs out, and her head dipped underwater. She frantically tried to resurface, finally managing to do so as Joel's darkened figure made contact with the river in front of her. She flopped against the water, trying to keep herself afloat, managing to do so just long enough for Joel to reach her. His face went wide with surprise as he took her in his arms, placing his back between them and whatever was behind them down river. Before either of them could react, they drove straight into a rock, the brunt of the impact cushioned by Joel's body in between her and the jagged object. Joel's body went limp, and she struggled to keep her head above water.

This was how they were going to die. She made her choice, and this was how it'll all end.

She held her breath.

* * *

Clementine's breath came in small spurts, adrenaline demanding her to run, right then, as Lee tugged on her arm. Everything took place in what felt like a split-second, a moment guided entirely by decisions and careless judgments made in the heat of the moment.

Decisions that weren't hers… that she had no say in. It all happened exactly like before, except Clementine couldn't stop herself from looking back. She just couldn't run anymore.

She stopped moving, pulling her arm away from Lee in resentment, backing away from him. She couldn't believe that he'd do that, just leave them like that. "Y - You… why would you…?!" She tried to say, fighting as hard as she could to say the words she so desperately wanted to say, but she couldn't make a sound. She stared at Lee, wide-eyed, bewildered, as though waiting for him to say something… waiting for him to reassure her that he didn't just do what he did. Her lower lip trembled in sorrow, her gaze falling to the metal bridge under her feet. All that was waiting for them was pointless… at some point, the girl had to stop deluding herself. Her gaze fell back to Lee as her expression began to harden in anger.

"You left them! You fucking left them behind!" The girl shouted at him, losing every single ounce of control over her emotions. "Say something…!" She pleaded, wanting Lee to defend himself, to tell her that it wasn't true. " **Say something!** " She asked again, on the verge of tears. Ellie and Joel were gone, and it was all his fault. Lee left them to die.

"There's nothing more I can say about it, Clementine… we tried, okay?" Lee looked almost heartbroken, but that didn't make her feel guilty for yelling at him. He deserved it. Maybe it was false hope that led her to believe that  _maybe_  things wouldn't be so bad with Joel and Ellie around, besides the shitty feeling of debt she felt towards the girl for saving her twice in a row. Maybe it was stupid of her to think that there was a chance to turn things around, to maybe get a friend out of it, but Lee didn't seem to be thinking that way. "There was no other choice," he continued, sighing. "We were out of time, what did you expect me to do? Stay there and watch you get gunned down by some damned turret?"

Her voice was hoarse, almost mute as she said the words, but she didn't care if he heard her. "I'm going back…"

"No, you're not… any second now, that turret could be coming after us, along with dozens of those thugs. We have to keep focused on our goal, and keep a level head…" Clementine simply shook her head, refusing to listen to what he was saying. "We can't do that by letting ourselves get emotional. I know it wasn't what either of us wanted to happen. No one  _asked_  for that ladder to break, but all we can do is keep moving forward. We  _have_  to."

Clementine took another step back, shaking her head in dissension, listening to the sounds of gunfire echo behind them. "You didn't even try," she told Lee bitterly, unable to look at him in the eye. The gunfire ceased only a few moments after, causing her eyes to widen in dismay, her entire body shivering. She crossed her arms, hugging herself, as though seeking some kind of comfort, a shelter from the grim, dismal thoughts in the back of her mind. She couldn't move, she didn't want to.

It was just… so unfair.

She gave Lee an empty, cold look of utter resentment before nodding falteringly. They had to keep going. They had to find a way to do it, somehow. She followed Lee away from that infernal place, carrying within each and every step a devastating feeling of regret.

After realizing that the bridge was impassable, they opted to go under, heading for the beaches near the river below. Clementine kept to herself as her feet trudged through the wet sand, not even looking in Lee's direction anymore. She wanted to say more, to yell and curse and scream at him until her voice gave out, but none of that came. It was pointless. They were dead by now, and she couldn't do anything to bring them back. Lee said something to her, but she ignored it, lifting and setting down each foot in slow succession. She walked a few steps behind Lee, deciding that her head was a better place to be than wherever Lee was trying to lead them. Her gaze was empty, her chest aching in grief. She acted like such a massive jerk to Ellie… and she felt wholeheartedly sorry for it. Not that she'd ever be able to tell her. She'd have to find a way to live with that.

Clementine couldn't stop thinking of ways she could've prevented it, and that train of thought only ever made her feel worse about what happened. Ultimately, the entirety of her frustration was directed at Lee, who chose to leave them to die without a second thought. For a moment, she found herself wishing, probably for the first time since they met years ago, that she didn't have to be stuck with him. She kept her arms crossed over her chest to stay warm, the cold wind blowing in their direction being enough to send a shiver down her spine.

When Lee stopped moving, she found herself stopping behind him, following his gaze. They'd been walking for a while, now, the bridge having disappeared into the distance behind them. His eyes were focused on something in the distance, in the river itself, and before she could even react, Lee was yelling out her name, before he rushed towards the river. "Stay on the bank! I'm gonna go get them!"

Clementine found herself frozen to the spot, looking out into the murky water to see what had Lee so excited, and found herself staring directly at Joel and Ellie, the latter flailing her arms in the water, clutching onto Joel's limp body for dear life.

_Oh my God._


	4. Beached

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter this time around due to time constraints, but that only means the next one will be even longer ;) Special thanks again to the roleplayers that I worked with for these scenes: Art (as Clementine), Ledge (as Lee), and Kentucky (as Joel). You're all super cool, yo.

Everything became a blur as the river continued to drag them onward, gladly  _away_  from the bandits that had been shooting at them relentlessly back at the bridge. After Joel hit the rock, Ellie had a hard time keeping him afloat. She had a hard time keeping  _herself_  afloat, but all she could do was  _try_. Time dragged on for what felt like forever, and it seemed that they weren't getting any closer to land. She tried swimming towards the shore, to no avail. Even if she could swim, the current was too strong to fight. Occasionally, her mouth would go underneath the surface of the water, and she'd flounder, trying to get back above and take in a deep breath. All she wanted was for Joel to wake up, but the rock had knocked him out cold.

As she continued to flail about, two figures on the shoreline caught her attention. For a moment, her anxious mind thought that the bandits had found them, but upon closer inspection, she realized that it was actually Lee and Clementine. It seemed that Lee had seen them, too, and was yelling something. For a moment, anger boiled beneath the surface of her skin, seeing him again after what he'd done, but the other half was desperate enough to get out of the water and onto dry land to try and call out for him, failing in the process, as a huge gulp of water choked her.

Vendettas could wait.

Tugging at Joel to keep them both afloat, she managed to croak out the man's name, hoping that he would come and pull them out of the water. After leaving them behind, they were owed that much. She coughed as more water managed to find its way into her mouth, before she tried desperately to swim towards the shore. It seemed useless, but if she could try and close the distance between her and Lee, maybe they'd make it out alright.

Lee dived into the water, swimming towards them in quick strokes. It wasn't long before he managed to reach her, yelling over the rushing water passing them as he managed to grab a hold of Ellie, keeping her head above water. "I got you!" Ellie clutched onto Joel, making sure that he wouldn't get left behind. Through her water-clogged ears, she could hear Lee's voice, trying his best to direct her on what to do. "Don't try to swim against it, you'll just tire out! Let the current sweep us out until we reach the end of it, then we'll swim back to the shore together, okay?"

Ellie just nodded to Lee's statement. At that moment, he could say that they'd start floating in mid-air, and she'd probably not question him. If doing what he said got them out of the water, then she wouldn't argue. Doing as she was told, and focusing on calming herself down, they continued down the river a little ways, the current pulling them slowly towards the shore.

As the current slowed, she could slowly feel the riverbed rise up beneath them, her feet touching a mixture of sand and dirt. Her breathing slowed as the anxiety slowly dissipated, Lee helping her get Joel out of the water.

Once they were on the shore, she laid Joel down just beyond the edge of the water before she collapsed onto the ground, facing the stars. She took in several deep breaths, as if she'd just finished running some sort of marathon. It was a stupid idea, but they made it. They actually made it. Those words kept repeating in her head, a half-smile appearing on her face for a brief moment. Once she managed to regain her breath, she pulled herself up, sitting on the sandy shoreline. Her eyes focused on Lee nearby, her earlier hatred for him nearly forgotten.

Her voice was a croak, everything that they'd been through in that river making it hard to even get anything out. "Thanks…"

She meant it, despite what had happened back at the bridge. Lee could've left them to float down-river and die, but he didn't. She's always been a bit naive, even when she knew she shouldn't be, but maybe… maybe he wasn't such an asshole - well, he definitely was, but not nearly as much as she'd given him credit for. That much she was willing to admit.

Lee answered her with a simple nod, turning his attention to Clementine, who, as soon as they had made it to the shore, had already fallen to her knees beside Joel, her hands desperately pressing against his chest, as if trying to perform CPR. "Y - You're okay… Joel?" She called out to him frantically, turning his head to the side, and watching as water poured out of his mouth in a staggering fashion. "Please don't be dead... c'mon!"

Lee hobbled over to Clementine, getting on his knees, before placing two of his fingers against Joel's neck. After a second, he sighed, in what sounded like relief. After a moment, he spoke up. "Clem, stop," he held out a hand to her. "He's fine, he doesn't need it. Just help me roll him over onto his side, and he'll be fine." Clementine followed Lee's command, rolling Joel onto his right side, before Lee looked over towards Ellie. "We gotta wait for him to come to. Did you see what he hit his head on?"

Before Ellie could answer, Joel's eyes flung open, and he immediately gagged on whatever water was left in his throat. They watched him in surprise, as if Joel had suddenly come back as a walker, that was, until his eyes focused on Lee, and the unbridled rage that Ellie had been feeling earlier surfaced within his bloodshot gaze.

"Get outta the way," his words were low, and he shot past Clementine and Ellie. Immediately, Ellie scrambled to her feet, calling out his name desperately, hoping to stop this before it was too late. He didn't listen, though, and brought Lee down to his knees within seconds, aiming his pistol in Lee's face. She shouted at him, almost indignantly.

"Jesus, Joel!" She rushed towards him, half-tempted to get in between him and Lee. She stood at the side, however, trying to get Joel to snap out of it. "Yeah, he's an asshole. He left us behind, but he just saved us! We should at least give him another chance!"

She wasn't sure if he was listening to her, the rage he'd seen on him a few times before was very clearly evident on his face. She just wanted everyone to calm the fuck down, and they'll figure out what to do. Shooting Lee wasn't a good idea, no matter the situation. She wouldn't let him. "Joel, c'mon!"

"He left us to  _die_  out there!" Joel roared, tightening his grip on the pistol.

"Get away…" Joel and Ellie's gazed fell onto Clementine in unison. The girl had her pistol clutched tightly in her hand, aimed directly towards Joel. Her eyes were squinted, brows furrowed, and it was clear that she'd shoot Joel the moment he tried anything. Ellie gulped. "… or you die next."

"Clementine, lower your gun. He's angry, but he's  _not_  gonna do anything," Lee's voice cut through the tension filling the air, outstretching his hands towards her in a calm manner. His gaze diverted back to Joel, his voice calm yet stern. "No, you had a chance of making it, and you did. But coming back for you meant putting  _her_  at risk." He nudged his head towards Clementine. "If it was the other way around, would you have come back for us?" He frowned as he sat himself up a little. "You're looking at the guy who's the reason why you're not at the bottom of a lake right now."

"Joel, he's telling the truth," Ellie added, trying to drive home the fact that Lee was the sole reason they haven't drowned in the river. She didn't want this; she didn't want  _any_  of this. These people had been nice - more or less - to them since the moment they met them, after their initial confrontation. She could count the amount of times that's happened since Tess easily. Zero. They shared a similar goal, and were nice enough, that made them okay in her book. Finally, as things seemed to escalate further, she managed to pull Joel off of Lee, putting herself between the two. He wasn't going to shoot her, that much she was confident in. She just wasn't so sure about him not shooting Lee. "Joel, please," she begged, her voice tired. "Let's not do his  _again_."

Joel stared her down, before an annoyed sigh left his mouth, holstering his gun. He frowned, rubbing his face and wincing. "Fine," he finally spoke, a scowl on his face.

Clementine had followed suit as Joel holstered his weapon, stashing her pistol back into her pocket, before dusting off the sand covering her clothes. She crossed her arms and eyed Joel, as if expecting him to try something else. "I guess we're even now," the girl concluded sourly.

Lee slowly got back to his feet, sighing. The tension in the air remained at an uncomfortable level, but they weren't killing each other yet, so Ellie took that as a good thing. After a brief moment of silence, Lee spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck. "For what it's worth, I'm glad we ended up spotting you guys." His gaze diverted to the cliff separating them from what appeared to be a neighborhood, continuing. "There's an abandoned radio tower just a few miles west of here. We get there, we're in the clear. So… we need to get moving, probably search the area, see how we can get to the other side of this cliff."

"Alright," Joel's voice was flat, leading Ellie to glance in his direction with a worried gaze. "We'll split up, then." His gaze met hers before he gestured for her to follow. "C'mon. Let's go check things out."

As Clementine and Lee walked away to search the rest of the beach, Ellie followed Joel, her eyes darting between him and the river. Every part of her felt uncomfortable, her clothes soaked from the murky water.  _Starting to wish we'd found a spare set of clothes. Oh… right. Yeah. Backpack's soaked through, too…_  She didn't like the idea of going through her backpack, since she knew what she'd find. All of those comics she'd been hauling around, ruined, and probably their food too. There wasn't any time to check on that, though, so it'd have to wait until they were in a safe place. For now, she just had to focus on the task at hand. She glanced towards Joel, letting out a small breath, which came out in a cloud of mist in the cold morning air. "That was intense. You cool?"

After nearly killing Lee, he probably wasn't, but it was worth a shot. They had to work together, like it or not.

"Yeah," he responded quickly, turning his head to look at the other two survivors on the beach, who disappeared behind a large rock. He turned back to face forward, his voice quiet. "I almost… I almost shot him."

"Well, he did  _kind of_  deserve it," Ellie replied, shrugging sheepishly.

"Maybe," Joel replied, sighing.

Of course, she wouldn't have let Joel do it, but that didn't mean she wasn't angry with Lee, too. It didn't make a lot of sense to her to abandon someone like that, even if it was to save someone else. They could've worked together, or something. Maybe. Not just… leave and hope for the best. Sighing, she gazed out towards the river, the fatigue starting to get to her. It'd been a long day, night, or  _whatever_  it's been. Running away from psychopaths with a truck and a machine gun turret wasn't exactly high on her list of expectations for when they got through Pittsburgh. Things spiraled out of control, and kept spiraling, until the instant they found this beach. Maybe now, things would calm down. At least… for a little while. Wouldn't want the journey to be boring, just… less dangerous?  _Yeah. That'd be nice._

The area around them was covered in dew and fog, both of which had a distinctive feeling to them. Didn't help that her clothes had barely dried, water dripping off of her and leaving tiny trails in the sand beneath her. The next chance she got, she  _would_  find a new set of clothes, and wait for these to dry. Despite all the moisture in the air, though, it felt almost… nice, there. It wasn't a Caribbean beach, but it wasn't too bad, either.

Ahead of them, a boat was beached on the shore, leaning haphazardly towards the ground, on the opposite side of them. She scrutinized the vessel for a moment, turning towards Joel. "We should probably check it out, see if the owner left anything behind?"

"Yeah, let's go." He hopped over a fallen tree separating them from the boat before turning back towards her. "Be careful. Might be infected hiding under it."

"Yeah, got it," Ellie replied, nodding, while her hand already hovered over where her knife remained tucked into her pocket. She'd be ready. She had no other choice but to be. She approached the boat alongside him, climbing onto the deck. She'd never been on a boat before, and being on one now was a strange feeling, like she was out of her depth, just as much as  _it_  was. As Joel began to search the cabin of the boat, Ellie turned to glanced towards him. "So, uh, did everyone own boats before?"

Joel threw his backpack onto the dashboard inside the cabin, throwing a bunch of supplies into it. His voice was one of amusement as he zipped the bag back up. "Oh, yeah. I had a sixty foot yacht."

"Really?" Ellie asked, genuinely surprised for a moment. She wasn't sure if he was being serious or not, glancing towards him as he joined her on the deck of the boat once more. His face was hard to read, but she had a feeling he was fucking with her. Would be nice having a sixty foot yacht, though. From advertisements she'd seen in old magazines and shit, they looked  _really_  nice. Nicer than any place she's ever stayed in. It was hard to imagine a time where people didn't have to sleep in crumbling buildings, with one eye open, in case infected show up. The world before was so different, almost alien.  _It'd be nice to be standing on a yacht right about now, though._ A small smile appeared on her face for a moment before she returned her attention to Joel.  _Yep, he's definitely fucking with me. There's no way._

"No," Joel's reply was abrupt and to-the-point, but the ghost of a smile betrayed his joke.

She let out a dry chuckle, nodding her head.  _Yep, knew it._  "Sarcasm… making progress."

He held out something towards her, grabbing her attention. It was another comic, the words 'Savage Starlight' stenciled stylishly into the cover. "Found this comic for you. I think you'd like it."

As Joel handed her the comic, her smile widened. "Awesome. Thanks. I think all my others got ruined in the river. Gonna have to be careful with this one."

With the boat searched, Ellie hopped back to the ground, feeling her feet slowly sink into the sand as she rolled the magazine up and stuffed it into one of the drier parts of her backpack. Walking on sand felt so vastly different from anything else she experienced, as if her feet were slowly sinking into the earth with each step. It was a feeling she'd not get used to for a while. However, given that they'll be leaving soon, it would be short-lived. She looked back up at Joel, swaying her arms back and forth idly. "So, uh, we should probably check on Lee and Clem. Maybe they've found us a way to that radio tower."

He hopped off the boat, rolling his shoulders. "Yeah, let's get goin'," he told her, walking towards a small ridge they could climb on top of, the rest of the beach blocked off by rubble and fallen trees. "I think they're good to have around."

"You think?" She was honestly surprised by the comment, almost expecting that she'd heard him wrong. Instead, he nodded, shrugging his shoulders.

"We'll just have to see how things go."

* * *

Clementine and Lee slowly made their way towards the west end of the beach, sharing nothing more than uncomfortable glances with each other. She had a lot on her mind, especially now, yet… somehow she failed to find the right words for it. She felt bad for taking it out on Lee earlier, at least… a little bit. It still didn't make what he did any less  _wrong_ , or at least, that's what the girl convinced herself of in order to counterbalance her disquietude. That was, however, only a part of what kept the gears in Clementine's head running so relentlessly. It was a multitude of things, really, and she wouldn't find it in her to rest easy until she managed to talk them out with Lee. For now, though, she was content with just listening to the sound of the waves splashing against the shore. For just a little longer…

The two would eventually run into a small abandoned cabin beside a few weirdly shaped rocks, taking the time to search it for the sake of being thorough. Inside, they found almost nothing of note. Surfboards, family photos... even fishing rods.  _No time for that._  The girl thought with a smile, thinking back to her dad.

Lee was looking through a chest, and for some reason or another, Clementine saw that as the time to sort things out, for better or worse. "Can we talk?" She asked suddenly, though it was rhetorical for the most part. She'd talk regardless, and Lee would listen. "This isn't about what happened before, or... well, it is, but it's not  _just_  that." She continued, already fumbling with her words in an uneasy fashion.  _C'mon, just get it over with…_  "We're never on the same page about  _anything_  anymore. You just… do stuff, without even caring about what I think." She tried to not sound mad, in spite of the aggressive tone slipping out on every other word. "Like when you attacked Joel, and told me to hide… like I'd just get in the way. Then you let them come with us without even talking to me first, or like when you… dragged me with you while you  _ran away_." Her gaze fell as she went over the last part, visibly hurt over what happened. "We're supposed to be a team, but all you ever do is talk down to me like I can't think for myself." She met his gaze, looking him in the eye. "Just… stop treating me like a kid."

Lee let out a small sigh as she finished, turning to peer at the chest he'd been rummaging through for a brief instant before closing it. He scratched at the back of his head as he turned back around. There was a genuine look of regret plastered on his face, his eyebrows furrowed in a manner that made him appear older than he actually was. "This whole town, it's just... put me on edge," he started, fidgeting uncomfortably. "We  _are_  a team, and I know I've probably been a bit overbearing lately… but, I always care about what you think and I know you're more than capable. What I did was wrong, and I'm sorry."

Her expression softened exponentially in response to Lee's apology. She wasn't even sure how to react. Those feelings had been there for weeks now, repressed by her ever unbroken admiration and attachment to him. It took her a lot of courage to say what she did, but she couldn't be happier that she finally managed to do it, altogether powerless to stop the smile from stretching across her face. The girl scratched her nose awkwardly, trying to think up some kind of way to display just how much she appreciated it.

"You wanna… shake on it?" She asked in a flustered tone, warmly, yet clumsily extending her hand.

His own smile was enough to diffuse any feeling of anger that still burned faintly within her. Instead of grasping her hand with his own, he leaned in and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug. "Thank you," he spoke softly.

"H - Hey…" She softly uttered the word, feeling his soft embrace envelop her wholly. She shyly lifted her shoulders, face reddening in embarrassment, though the girl's discomposure was quick to wear away once Lee's 'thank you' washed over her. They hadn't done  _that_  for what felt like months now… it made her feel cozy, safe, like nothing else ever could since she lost her parents. The best feeling in the world.

She hugged him back without an ounce of hesitation, shutting her eyes in an effort to hold back the tears that followed. Her smile didn't fade away, not even for a second, as the sound of her voice became discernible once again. "I'm sorry for cussing you out earlier…" she mumbled in a lighthearted tone, burying her face against his shoulder. "I'm glad you're okay."

"It's okay," Lee's voice was calm and soothing as he let her go, pushing himself back to his feet. He smiled towards her as he continued. "We're gonna work  _together_  to make sure we finally get out of here. I promise. Now… whaddaya say we figure out a way to get out of here, huh?" He ruffled her hat slightly, making Clementine laugh before making sure to adjust it back before they left the cabin.

Joel and Ellie could just barely be seen in the distance, no thanks to the thick, downright  _eerie_  fog surrounding the beach. They were heading towards them, slowly making their way there with the aid of a pathway situated by a small cliff. Lee was the first one to speak up after they left the cabin, breaking the charming silence by asking her a question that, despite being a long time coming, she didn't really have an answer to. Not just yet, anyway.

"So… what do you think of them?"

"I dunno," she said with a shrug, looking overly pensive. It was difficult to come to terms with the fact she didn't really find the pair as hateful as perhaps maybe she  _should_ , but those were her real feelings, and no amount of hiding them could change that. Joel was kind of a violent asshole, maybe, but he didn't strike her as a bad person. He even reminded her of Lee in a lot of ways… for better or for worse. Her and Ellie were on shaky ground at best, but… Clementine genuinely wanted to give it a shot, a real attempt at making it work… at making a friend. She owed Ellie that much at least, after ditching her back on the bridge.  _If she doesn't hate me already…_

She stayed silent for a while, thinking hard about what to say next. "We could at least try. We haven't been in a group since… Rebecca passed." She briefly recalled those memories, feeling horrified just  _thinking_  about them. They were all gunned down, the large majority of them. Whoever managed to escape died from the cold, desperately trying to cross North Carolina… trying to get away from Carver. The lucky ones ended up starving to death, one by one… everyone except for her and Lee. She shook those thoughts away, feeling her hands quiver with despair. After thinking about all the people they've lost… she didn't really feel like talking anymore.

Lee's response sounded just as remorseful as she felt. "Yeah…"

As they continued to wander further away from the beach, something seemed to catch Lee's eye, and he called out to her to check it out. She watched as he attempted to lift the metal grate that was shut over a large drainage pipe, her expression gradually warping itself into one of disgust. Her face twisted, the smell making the girl feel sick to her stomach. She crossed her arms, sharing an uneasy look with Lee before returning her gaze to the drain in front of them, the sigh sending her a feeling of apprehension stronger than any walker or clicker could ever hope to achieve.

Lee took a step away from the pipe, looking back over towards Ellie and Joel as they began to head towards them. "Hey, found something!" He indicated the pipe as he took a step towards them. "Should lead right through to the other side!"

"Do we have to…?" Clementine asked hesitantly, the grip on her shoulders tightening in discomfort. Dirt, blood, and now  _sewage_. Based on how this horrible fucking week was unfolding, she couldn't imagine her hair would ever smell the same way again.

"Yeah, we have to," Joel spoke up he and Ellie finally reached them. "Rubble's blocked the way on the rest of the beach. No way we'll make it out that way." He walked up to the pipe, grabbing the rusting gate and tried to lift it open. It budged, but only slightly. "Lee, c'mere and give me a hand with this." He waved Lee over to him, who nodded back before joining him. With their combined strength, they were able to slowly lift the grate upward, just large enough for a person to fit through.

"Alright, go on through," Lee called out towards her and Ellie, his voice strained from the exertion. "Sooner we go in, sooner we get out," he reminded her.

Ellie was the first one to move, squeezing through the small crack. She'd pulled out her knife while climbing in, the metal glinting in the faint sunlight. For a moment, she peered into the darkness inside before turning around and helping Lee and Joel push the grate open further.

Clementine pinched the bridge of her nose, dreading what would soon follow with every fiber of her being. She quickly ducked underneath the grate, crouching down as she tried, to no avail, to avoid soaking her boots in sewage. As expected, it was painfully dark inside, almost as much as it was disgusting. She couldn't see a fucking thing, and it was freaking her out.  _Flashlight, flashlight…_  She nervously reached for her backpack, squinting her eyes in an effort to somehow see the contents of the bag she was fumbling through.

_Got it!_

Frantically flicking its switch, she turned on the flashlight, sighing in relief as she was greeted with a visible pathway. She glanced back towards the others as they lowered the grate back down. "Where to?" She asked, hoping for directions. Not that she  _expected_  anyone to know exactly where to go.

The trickling of water echoed through the sewer, moss and plant growth scouring the walls like an infestation. The further Clementine squinted down the pipe, the deeper the water seemed to get, annoying her further. More flashlights joined hers, illuminating the pipe further, Lee's voice reaching her ears as they began to trudge through the shitty water. "Watch your footing around here," he glanced back towards them, a worried gaze plastered across his face. Normally, she'd think he was being  _too_  careful, but in this instance… she probably felt  _worse_. Sighing, he continued in an even voice. "Let's see where this path leads…"

_To the death of my nose, probably._

She resisted the urge to clamp her fingers around said nose as she followed closely behind Lee, hoping the end of the tunnel wouldn't be too far away.

Knowing her luck, it'd be on the other side of the town.


	5. Trapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit early on the release for this one, but I'm hoping to start getting these out on Tuesdays instead of Sundays, now x) Given most of my writing time is over the weekend, having the chapter come out on a day I can just proofread will make things easier for me. Nevertheless, I'm sure having the chapter early isn't an issue ^^

It didn't take long for them to reach the end of the narrow corridor, which opened up into a large room. The water here appeared to be a bit cleaner, but still really  _gross_ , and rainwater had filled the chasm in the middle of the room, along with whatever sewage had remained. A gaping hole dominated half of the ceiling, a small convenience store just barely visible in the morning light.

Clementine stopped dead in her tracks, extending her arm in order to prevent Lee from accidentally pushing her towards the large gap in front of them. It went pretty far from what it looked like, not that she could see that far into the room, or the depths of the water, in the first place. As if being in ankle-deep water wasn't bad enough, now it seemed they were going to have to  _swim_ in it. Clementine waited, hoping someone  _sensible_  would suggest turning back, but that moment never came. She sighed softly, nervously anticipating the jump, before Ellie ended up saying something she couldn't have predicted, much less believe after she heard it.

"Uh… figured I should mention it, but… I can't swim Just… throwing that out there."

_Oh… great._

Ellie didn't know how to swim. That explained it. Yeah. Clementine scratched at the back of her head, trying to help the others think of something. After that sudden disclosure, they were in desperate need of a plan. "Maybe we just… carry you?" She threw the idea up in the air, utterly lost on what to do. It sounded like a terrible idea after saying it out loud, but she was sure Joel could pull it off. Heck, she could do it if it came down to it.  _At least we'd… drown together. I guess._

"There's no other way around, we're gonna have to swim," Lee spoke up, looking between Ellie and Joel. "Joel, uh… you're a pretty strong guy, right?" He added in an awkward tone, just enough for even Clementine to pick up on. It was beginning to look like the 'carry Ellie' plan was going to be their only option.

Joel seemed to mull over that for a moment before letting out a sigh, bending his knees slightly. "Alright. Hop on my back, I can get you across."

"For the record, I don't think this is a good idea," Ellie muttered, barely audible as she glanced between Joel, Lee, and Clementine, before finally letting out a sigh. She took a step back, taking several quick strides towards Joel, and wrapping her legs around him. "Alright," she breathed, nervousness leaving her voice shaky. "L - Let's go."

Clementine swallowed anxiously, handing Lee her flashlight before doing anything else. They were pretty high up in relation to the water, and taking that first step took every bit of courage she had. "If it's too deep, you'll help… right?" She asked Lee restlessly, trying not to stare down at the black surface of the water for too long. She knew how to swim, owing that fact entirely to her father's persistence back when they used to live on the farm, but she wasn't particularly  _good_  at it. Drowning in sewage was probably the worst way to go out, and the mere thought sent chills down her spine.  _Just pretend you're with Dad… in the riverbank._

"I'll be right next to you, don't worry," Lee's voice cut through the fog clouding her mind, forcing herself back into the present. As much as she'd like to imagine those days with her dad, now wasn't the time.

She focused on maintaining a steady breath, shutting her eyes.  _In. Out. Inhale. Exhale._ She jumped into the water below, a loud  _splash_  echoing through the sewer, soon replaced by the sounds of softer splashes caused by her excessive leg movement. The girl lifted her backpack over her head, hoping, at the very least, that neither  _it_  or her hat got soaked with that crap. The awful smell and the thick water texture eventually caught up to her, nearly causing her to whimper with disgust.  _Gross, gross…! Gah, I hate this so fucking much._

Another splash reached her ears, and she turned to see Lee treading towards her, keeping his arms above the water. On this side of the room, the water was low enough that Clementine was just barely able to standing on her toes, but for Lee, it seemed to be much easier. They kept going until they were both submerged in it, Lee turning back towards Joel and Ellie on the platform.

"You guys good?"

Joel quickly dropped into the water. He seemed to be struggling, but only by a little, which was… good. Last thing she wanted was for them to drown in here. Finally, Joel replied to Lee's question, after taking a moment to test the waters. "Yeah, I think so. Ellie, are you good?"

"Y - Yeah, I'm good," Ellie instantly replied, although her shaky voice already betrayed the fact that she wasn't.

The water moved faintly around Clementine's shoulder as she struggled to stay afloat while keeping her backpack above her head. Every couple of seconds, her head would sink just under eye level, causing her to hastily move her legs in an attempt to resurface. "This sucks," she pointed out in an unnerved manner, starting to wear out about halfway across the waterway. In one of those instances, her head sunk deeper than usual, catching her off-guard and filling her mouth and nostrils with water. Her head perked up in one sudden movement, choking on the water while she began having an exponentially more difficult time staying afloat.

To her right, Lee tossed his backpack to the platform they were swimming towards, the bag landing softly just at the edge. He quickly swam towards her. "I got you, let me get the bag," he spoke as he grabbed a hold of her, making sure her head remained above water while he took the bag and tossed it alongside his. Relief settled in her heart to see that the backpack had made it alright, and she let Lee guide her along the rest of the way. As they finally reached the end of the platform, he boosted her up, before climbing up after her. They quickly grabbed their backpacks and put them on. It felt liberating just to be out of the water, and she couldn't help herself as she leaned against the railing to catch her breath, watching as Joel positioned himself against the wall beneath her.

"Alright, you climb up first, Ellie," he had strained to say to the girl, pained breaths leaving his mouth between every word. Ellie did as she was told, Joel lifting her above the water and within reach of the platform. Pulling herself up, she bent down to help Lee pull up Joel, reaching out her hand.

"Alright, c'mon…" Her nose wrinkled for a moment before Joel had clasped her hand, and then Lee's, before he was lifted onto the platform too. The smell of shit permeated the air in a way that was nauseating. The sounds of their boots squelching and the constant dripping of water filled the air, another pathway that led beyond the room coming into view. It seemed to be built at an angle, leading upwards.  _Hopefully a way out of this place._

Before anyone could move towards it, however, a disturbing, familiar sound echoed from down the hall.

Clementine couldn't possibly forget that gruesome sound, almost as if it'd been engraved into her brain. The girl held back her nauseated coughing, wide-eyed as she shot a nervous glance towards Lee, Joel, and Ellie to ensure that they were all on the same page. They only had so much time to stand around in shock before the clickers, as Joel had notably called them earlier, were able to track them down.

Her mind raced with no signs of slowing down, trying to somehow pinpoint how many were out there, though that effort proved to be fruitless. Though they didn't have the luxury of being able to form a plan verbally, there was only one implicit course of action to take: hide and wait.

In front of them were multiple cramped tunnels, possibly leading to different sections of the sewer. There weren't any perfect hiding spots, not as much as Clementine could tell, but anything was an improvement to their current situation. They quickly spread out, while trying to stay relatively near each other, remaining just barely out of sight. Clementine crouched and silently stepped towards the corner on her immediate right, placing her hands against the cold wall in order to guide herself through the chokingly dark passageway.

She could distinctly make out a strange croaking from somewhere nearby, her eyes desperately scanning her surroundings for any sign of the source, yet found nothing.

_Don't panic… don't…_

If she made a sound,  _any_  sound, the clickers would likely find her first. That couldn't happen, no matter what. The girl felt a bead of sweat run down her forehead as the stumbling footsteps became louder, clearer. She instinctively unsheathed her knife, holding it in front of her face so that she could see it clearly amidst the darkness encompassing her, the blade shaking as her arm followed suit.

A split second. Less, maybe… that was all it took.

The source of the croaking charged in her direction, emitting a ferocious, painful cry. She did everything she could to stop it, but was almost powerless compared to the strength of the infected. She aimed her knife straight forward towards the general direction of the infected, and hoped for the best. The knife went straight through its stomach as she kept the blade just inches away from her as its hands clasped at her shirt. She let out a soft cry of horror, using all of her strength to push him back with the knife.

" _Clementine!_ " Lee's voice echoed through the passageway, his voice being followed with the sound of a rifle cocking and the resulting, resonating  _boom_  of a bullet being fired towards the infected on top of her. Before she could react, the infected slumped against her, the bullet lodging itself into its forehead.

The sudden silence that followed was quickly dissipated by the rabid screeching of the clickers. Nearby, she could hear Joel fighting one of them off, but Clementine's nerve-wracked brain couldn't focus on it. Instead, she gave Lee a shaky thumbs up, before pushing the infected  _thing_  off of her and rising to her feet. Lee had rushed towards Joel, hatchet already in hand, as he joined the fray, keeping the clickers at bay. He plunged the hatchet into one of the clicker's heads multiple times, hacking at it until it fell to the ground. The second clicker got back to its feet fast, having been knocked over from Joel pushing the other clicker into it. Joel grabbed the second one by its shirt, shoving it into a wall. He continued to smash its head into the brick, again and again, until it turned into a gooey, mushy mess. When it was finally over, he tossed the clicker to the ground, his voice sounding hoarse as he called out to everyone else.

"Let's get going.  _Now._ "

* * *

Quickly pushing through the sewers, they stumbled across a double door. There were scribblings in chalk and drawings on the sides of the walls, most likely the work of a little kid. As Lee pushed the door open, some sort of trap was set off, a string attached to a bucket that dropped several glass bottles onto the floor. They shattered into hundreds of pieces, the sound being enough to send Lee jerking backwards. "Jesus!"

Clementine stood next to him, holding onto her knife. She expected something to come running towards them at any second, but nothing came. Whoever used to live here, they were gone.

"I think this is old," Lee spoke, looking between her and the others. "Someone must've lived here. Don't think those things are on the way," he slowly stepped into the room, gazing at their surroundings, before turning his attention back to Joel. "Look, uh… we ran into one of those things yesterday, before we ran into you guys. Clickers, right? Why are they like that?"

"They've been infected for a long time," Joel replied evenly, pacing around the room for a moment. "Probably for about four years. Cordyceps, that's the fungus, took over their brains entirely, and has grown over their - their heads. They're blind, so they use echolocation to see. That's why they click, and there's the name."

As Joel explained to Lee about the clickers, Clementine took off her backpack, laying it on the floor and crouching down to ruffle through its contents, listening intently to Joel as she did. Taking a rapid glance inside the backpack, a sensible person would be very likely to call its contents idiotic and impractical. Some surely had during her time spent surviving in the outside world, amidst the dozens of other people her and Lee have met throughout the years, though she hardly cared when a circumstance like that presented itself in front of her. What she carried with her every day had a larger purpose, things that kept her going even when her own legs refused to move, something an extra canned meal or a larger canteen couldn't ever compete with. She carried various books with her, those that her mom used to read to her when she was little, and were the only things she had to remember her by. She'd read them over and over again, whenever she had the chance, usually long after Lee, or everyone else, had fallen asleep. Needless to say, the girl wasn't comfortable with anyone knowing she read books for little children, actively making an effort to hide the fact as much as she possibly could. Lee knew about the books, at least… early on. Sometimes she wondered if he had any idea that she still had them with her after all these years. Only he knew for sure, and she didn't intend to ask. Her favorite one was titled  _Where The Wild Things Are_ , written by someone named  _Maurice Sendak_. She never knew for sure how to pronounce his name, but she loved the book and its illustrations, and so did her mother. She didn't have all that many resources to hide her personal junk, left with little more than a zipper standing between her books and a pair of curious eyes. The girl's method of prevention soon became the fact that she wouldn't let anyone touch her things, no matter what, guarding her backpack the same way a mother bear would watch over her cubs.

Aside from her personal things, though, inside Clementine's backpack also stored her not-so-secret stash of food, which was simply what she'd named the less healthy stuff Lee would let her keep. There wasn't a ton left out on the road, and what hadn't expired by now had long since vanished underneath crumbled stores and warehouses. Luckily, the art of baking sweets hadn't been lost to the old world, thriving especially in larger communities. Lee didn't like those all that much, but the two of them would still run into people who  _did_  fairly often. Just last month, they had found an abandoned car chock-full of homemade chocolate bars, probably being transported somewhere before the driver turned into a walker. Lee said they could take  _one_  box, but she sneakily took two instead, lasting her all the way until… well,  _now_. There was only one left. She cursed under her breath, deeply saddened by that fact.  _Back to apples, I guess…_

The fact that she only had one candy bar left only made what followed even more excruciating for her, but she figured the sacrifice was for a good cause. She grabbed the candy bar from inside her backpack, extending her hand towards Ellie whilst calling for her. "Want one?"

Ellie seemed taken aback by her even acknowledging her existence, but a small smile appeared on her lips after a moment as she finally approached Clementine, looking towards the offered candy bar hungrily. She slowly took it, before glancing back towards her. "Thanks. You, uh… got any more of these?"

Clementine held her tongue, having a small hunch about what that question was  _really_  about. If Ellie knew it was the last one, she'd just feel shitty, right? She looked away briefly, taking a moment to think over her answer before replying to her.  _Why do I care…?_  She couldn't help but wonder, as her knees faced against the wretched sewer floor. Those thoughts, however, were little more than a pretense. It didn't matter how much she tried to hide it, or pretend otherwise. All she wanted was a friend.

"Yeah, sure," she lied, her gaze facing downward in contempt. It was, admittedly, a shallow attempt at making amends, especially after all the crap she had put Ellie through. Nevertheless, it was amidst the very little the girl had to offer, other than… an apology.  _Right._  She bit her lower lip, zipping the backpack shut before saying the line she had practiced before on her lonesome. "I'm sorry for yesterday, and… for being such a dick." She told the girl, hoping that… maybe… that she'd forgive her and Lee.

"Well, we were  _all_  being dicks," Ellie replied with a half-chuckle, rubbing the back of her neck. "So… I'm sorry, too."

Finally, the girl focused her gaze on the candy bar, glancing towards Joel and Lee on the other side of the room as they continued to discuss the infected they've met so far. Clementine was actually  _kind_   _of_  glad things were working out, even if things were still a little… strenuous. Being on their own for so long, Clementine missed having people around, more than she'd admit aloud. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, as Ellie took the candy bar and split it in half, extending the other half towards her.

"To make your candy stash last longer," was all the girl had said.

Clementine had found herself surprised by the gesture, pleasantly so. For a few lingering seconds, she had no idea how to respond, staring at Ellie's hand in near awe. "You don't… have to," she insisted, shaking her head with a tender expression. Still, after Ellie clarified herself, she couldn't find it in her to refuse it, swayed by the girl's altruism. She reached for Ellie's hand, taking the half extended to her with a smile she simply couldn't hold back.  _All is forgiven._  She thought lightheartedly before shoving the sweet in her mouth, savoring the chocolate as though it was the last one on Earth, though it might as well have been, all things considered.

All of that made her somehow feel  _less_  terrible about being stuck with two strangers in the sewer, with her hair and clothes reeking of crap. It sucked… it sucked  _hard_ , but at least it wasn't just her and Lee anymore. She missed that feeling, probably more so than she would've cared to admit. Maybe it was too optimistic to imagine Ellie becoming her friend over something as dumb as a chocolate bar, but that's precisely what the essence of being a kid was… being hopeful, something she hadn't sincerely felt for a long time.

As Ellie finished her half of the candy bar, she glanced back towards Clementine, a look of wonder written across her face. " _Man_ , where did you get these? I thought all these would've expired  _ages_  ago."

Clementine tried to find somewhere cozy to recharge, settling for one of the wooden tables scattered around the presumed underground camp. After merrily sitting atop the counter nearby, Ellie followed, doing the same before asking her that fairly reasonable question. "We found a car last month  _packed_  with chocolate," she began to explain, extending her arms in a dramatic fashion to try and describe just  _how much_  of it there was. "Lee said they were probably transporting it to some community nearby, but…" She paused briefly, trying, to no avail, to find a way to word her next comment differently. "…the driver was dead, so we took it? It sounds kinda bad when you say it like that…" she rubbed her other arm nervously, feeling the worn-out cloth over the bullet graze from yesterday with her fingers. "It's probably not candy from, y'know,  _before_. Mom used to bake stuff like this all the time."

Ellie simply nodded, laying her back against the table and looking up at the dingy ceiling above them. She took in a deep breath, before letting it out. Finally, she glanced over towards Clementine, who leaned her elbows against her thighs as she supported her head with her hands. A question escaped Ellie's mouth, one that Clementine had been expecting. "So… when did you meet Lee? You two seem… close. Couple years, or something?"

"Couple years," Clementine confirmed with a soft smile, though at this point, the girl couldn't say for sure  _how many_. Lee and her have been together for what felt like forever. They lived through so much in such a short span of time, it was almost difficult to think back to a time when he wasn't there. "Lee found me on my own when I was eight, and he's taken care of me ever since," she continued, wanting to keep the story short for her own sake. One question was sure to arise from that statement, however, and she made sure to bring it up, even if just for the sake of laying it all on the table.

"My parents…" she opened with before scooting herself backwards on the table, leaning her back against the wall. She knew Ellie wouldn't be gutsy enough to ask the question herself. "We used to live on a farm near Atlanta. One day, they told me to run as far away as I could, and that was that. I never saw them again. We tried looking for them…  _I_ tried looking for them," she quickly corrected herself, though she didn't mean to go over anything else regarding Savannah, let alone what preceded it. Those were just… terrible memories she wished she could erase entirely. "It wasn't just us at first. We had a group. A few of them, but… they're all gone now." She, again, settled for the short version, hoping Ellie would be kind enough to understand. She let out a soft sigh, shifting her gaze back to Ellie after figuring she'd gone on about herself for long enough. "Your turn," she told the girl in a playful tone, attempting to salvage the mood after her sob story. Ellie and Joel had this really mysterious air about them, probably more so than anyone they'd ever met out on the road. Why were those two together? Looking for the Fireflies, no less… It was hard to contain her curiosity on the matter, but now seemed like as good of a time as any to ask about their history together.

Ellie pulled herself back up into a sitting position, seeming to mull over Clementine's question for a moment. "Um, well…" she stammered, tapping her finger on the wooden table for a moment before continuing. "Grew up in the Boston quarantine zone. They had me in this military school there. It wasn't the  _greatest_ , but… I mean, I guess it prepared me a bit for out here. Had a friend there, though she's… gone, now." There was a flicker of hurt in her eyes, one that Clementine quickly picked up on, although the girl left her little time to dwell on it. "I met Joel a couple weeks after my friend died. I was trying to find a way out of Boston with a group, looking for the Fireflies. We traveled together for a while, and the rest of our group died off… but we kept going. Up until we found you two, we hadn't really found anyone who's friendly out here."

_Yeah, I know that feeling._

"It's been… a hell of a ride so far," the girl finished, struggling to smile towards Clementine.

Her response left more questions in its wake than answers, but Clementine didn't push the subject. They still had a long journey ahead of them, and she was sure she'd be able to get some more information out of the girl with time. For now, all they all deserved to rest, for however little time they were able to.

* * *

Their rest was short-lived, unfortunately. Before Clementine knew it, they were back to quietly navigating through the sewer tunnels. Lee and Joel were ahead of her and Ellie, though the two girls tried to follow closely behind with each twist and turn. Their footsteps echoed off the walls in a way that made it hard to concentrate on anything else, but Clementine tried her best to do just that. After their run-in with the clickers and that one  _thing_ , she wasn't going to be surprised again.

Another door blocked their path, and Clementine silently reached for her knife as she stood behind Joel. She was ready for whatever laid on the other side of that door, although she'd prefer if it was  _freedom_  she'd find, or, well… any sort of sign that they were almost out of this place. But, as Joel began to open the door, a strange sound radiated through the tunnel, something akin to the sound of a rope snapping.

_Oh, shit…_

It must've been another trap left behind by that  _stupid_  community. Before anyone could react, a large metal wall slid down from above, crashing to the ground with a resonating  _thud_. Clementine jumped backwards in shock, feeling her head connect to Joel's thorax with force. One second too late, and that thing would've probably crushed her into tiny bits.  _Could haves_  were, however, at the very bottom of the girl's lists of concerns, as she desperately scanned the wall for any sort of breach.

"No, dammit!" Joel's voice echoed in the tiny space as he banged on the door with his fist.

"What the hell happened?" Lee asked through the gap, relief washing over Clementine to see that he was okay and not crushed into a pancake.

"We're stuck," she uttered in dread, kicking the metal wall in frustration, to no avail. There was a small gap, enough to see Lee and Ellie on the other side, but not much else. "You guys okay?" She asked, peeking through the breach, hoping they were doing better than her and Joel.  _This sucks… c'mon, there's gotta be a way through! This thing's so damn heavy…_

"That was me, I must've triggered some sort of safety gate or somethin'," Joel was speaking through gritted teeth, turning back towards the metal grate that's separated them from the others. "Lee, see if we can lift this," he continued, reaching down towards the bottom of the gate.

"C - Can we get to them from here? If we can't lift it?" Ellie asked quickly, and Clementine found herself agreeing with that sentiment. Hopefully, if they couldn't lift the gate, they could meet somewhere on the other side. However, the sound of clickers slowly began to surface in the distance, echoing through the tunnels.

"We'll figure something out," Lee responded to Ellie's question, kneeling down to attempt to pull the gate upwards. However, as those sounds of the clickers began to rise, his head jerked towards the source, and a hiss left his lips. "God dammit!" He got back to his feet, peeking through the opening with a worried gaze. "They're coming… just go. We'll find a way to meet back up!" He turned to his left, and Clementine's eyes flew wide open as a horde of clickers rounded the corner, heading straight for them. "Come on!" Lee was shouting towards Ellie now, pulling her along and away from the metal gate, disappearing down a different path.

About ten clickers charged after them, and once they were out of sight, the chamber Clementine had found herself in became dead silent.

That silence was only thing that was left in their wake. Clementine's hands wrapped around the metal bars of the metal door, while Joel's voice was the only reason she let them go. "We're gonna be fine."

She found herself leaning against the door, waiting, frozen in place, while Lee's last words incessantly echoed in her head.

_Just go…_

She banged her head against the metal standing before her in rage, powerless to do  _anything_ , and too weak to let out a sound.  _Fuck. Fuck. Fuck…!_  They were still alive, they  _had_  to be. She refused to think otherwise. There was  _no_  way they were dead… no way in hell. Gradually recomposing herself, the girl looked back towards Joel, who she struggled not to feel contempt for given the fact  _he_  was the one who triggered the trap. It was a shitty situation to be in, but they had to somehow make the best of it. The only way out of this shithole was to work together. "You heard him," she said coldly, crossing her arms as she faced away from the metal wall. "We have to find a way out of here." She ended it there, not saying another word as she followed Joel to wherever he intended to lead them.

* * *

Ellie could practically feel the presence of the clickers chasing them, despite their slight lead. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't close to pissing herself out of terror, but she had no time to dwell on that, her only focus being on putting one foot in front of the other in rapid succession. As they ran down another tunnel, a dead end came into view, panic rising into her throat. Lee's gaze desperately scanned the wall, as if expecting something to appear out of thin air, before his gaze drew upward, towards a retracted ladder at the top of the ledge. He placed his back against the wall, putting his hands together, before calling out for Ellie. "Alright, I'll boost you up, just kick down the ladder!" The words quickly left his mouth in a single breath, and Ellie simply nodded, rushing towards him and jumping into his hands. As she climbed the wall, she gripped onto the bottom rungs of the ladder for dear life.

Once reaching the top, she kicked the ladder, the metal contraption opening and sliding to the ground with a screech. As she took a moment to catch her breath, she turned to watch Lee, pulling out her pistol, just in case a clicker got too close. Which, of course, proved to be the correct choice, as the first clicker rounded the corner and darted towards Lee. Taking in a breath, she pulled back the trigger, the bullet grazing the hard shell of the clicker's head, but not killing it. However, it had been thrown back by the force, hopefully buying Lee enough time to finish climbing the ladder before it could get within range of grabbing him.

Lee had fired off a shot of his own with the rifle, which downed one of the clickers rushing towards him. Before the stunned clicker Ellie had shot could get to its feet, Lee quickly darted up the ladder, kicking away at the clickers that had assembled below, before reaching the ledge and pulling himself up. He kicked the ladder until it fell off its hinges, landing in a heap of clickers below. As he slung his rifle over his shoulder, his hands on his knees as he hunched over, he took a moment to catch his breath, huffing out a single word towards Ellie. "Thanks…"

"No problem," she replied with a heavy breath, watching as the rest of the clickers filled the space beneath them like rabid wolves. They needed to leave,  _now_. They might not be able to get to them from up here, but they were still a threat, if one of them started spewing spores. As they began to back away from the ledge, Ellie spoke, adding this little tidbit in. It was important for him to know, if they ran into spores on their way to find Joel and Clementine. "Oh, and by the way, these things… they make some sort of spores. They infect you if you breathe them. Y - You don't happen to have a gas mask, do you?" She was thinking that he probably didn't, not since he hardly knew anything about the infected anyway. They'd need something to protect them if that eventuality happened, at least to make sure  _he_  doesn't get infected, and she wouldn't blow her cover.

Lee pushed himself back onto his feet, taking in a deep breath as they began to walk away from the horde of clickers behind them. He kept his voice low as he replied to her question. "Joel mentioned spores earlier, and no… I don't," he let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sure you'll notice the spores if we come across them, we'll just have to avoid them if that's the case. Let's just keep moving, and we'll try to listen out for the others."

The two continued to travel through the tunnel, Ellie's heart beating at a pace that probably wasn't healthy. The situation was so,  _completely_  shit, like… it couldn't be shittier even if they managed to find a pool of literal shit in there. Joel and Clementine were lost somewhere in this place, and she was stuck with the guy she still hadn't quite forgiven yet for leaving them at the bridge. Maybe that was just her being stubborn… she wanted things to be okay between them, but she couldn't stop thinking about what Lee could do if it meant life or death. Would he leave her, if it meant surviving, and finding Clementine again? Her face scrunched up at the thought.  _No._  Lee left them at the bridge because he had Clementine with him, and the odds of her and Joel escaping together were higher, and the fact Ellie had been on top of the trailer when they escaped. Lee wouldn't leave her behind, it seemed… uncharacteristic of him. At least, she hoped.

As they passed by another 'river' of sewage flowing down a small incline, she glanced towards the man, wondering what was going through his head. Was he worried about Clem? Thinking about how her and Clementine should've been in different spots, so he could be with her? Maybe he wasn't thinking about her at all. In some ways, he was still a mystery, just as much as Joel was sometimes. Survived for so long in this world, they keep most of themselves hidden away, tucked beneath their survival instincts. After what felt like an eternity of silence, she interrupted it, her voice barely audible, to ensure they weren't heard by infected.

"What happens if we can't find them?"

Although part of her  _was_  worried about their chances at finding them, the reason why she brought it up was merely because she wanted to know what he'd say. She hardly wanted to think about not finding the others, but the possibility still remained. Surely, if they both managed to find an exit to this place, they could meet back up above ground, but there were a million ways it could go wrong. Too many to count, and too many to account for.

"We  _will_  find them," Lee's voice had a rough, snappy kind of tone to it, which she didn't really blame him for, given the circumstances. "Not much else we can do other than keep it together, and do the best we can, given the situation." He glanced down at his watch, shining his flashlight towards it. "They'll be heading for high ground, same as us. There's gotta be a way out, up there. Sun's up, so we just need to look out for any light. That'll be our exit." She admired his confidence, more so than she'd admit to his face. Right now, she felt lost in a damned maze, with no idea which was was up or which direction would lead  _out_. But, if Lee thought they would make it out, and regroup with Joel and Clementine, then she was more than willing to just put her faith in that.

A long moment of silence passed between the two, their feet splashing in puddles that pockmarked the tunnel floor. A sigh escaped Lee's lips, and he turned his head to look towards her. "Look, about what happened back on the bridge… leaving Joel behind… It was a split-second decision, and it wasn't the right one. I'm sorry about what happened."

Ellie didn't expect him to bring that up again, her eyes narrowing for a couple of seconds, before finally realizing what he was saying. It was reassuring, but only slightly so. She didn't question that his decision had some merit to it, even though it  _did_  make him a huge dick.  _At least he regrets it, right?_  She could barely make him out in the darkening tunnel, but it was enough to see that look of guilt plastered across his face.

Finally, she let out a sigh of her own, before quickening her pace, passing him as the tunnel began to incline. Her tone was dismissive, but warmer than it might've been if they were having this conversation back on the beach. "You did what you thought would save Clem. I get it."

She was close to forgiving him fully, but not yet. Trust was something earned, and if she learned  _anything_  on this journey, it was that.

"I guess I did…" He spoke softly, a sense of regret evident in his tone. Another moment of silence ensued, Ellie's mind focused on their footsteps to ease her mind, and it helped… but only barely. Lee's voice interrupted her concentration, and she didn't bother to look back at him as he spoke. "Joel mentioned you guys were looking for the Fireflies, too. It must be pretty important if you came all the way out here."

She knew that he was only fishing for information, hoping to get more of a reason as to why they were looking for the Fireflies. As they continued through the sewer, she kept ahead of him, trying to think of something to say to his statement. After about twenty seconds had gone by, she managed to put  _something_  together.

"For the same reasons you are. Safety. I also had some… friends, who were Fireflies. It seemed safer to join them than to just sit around in Boston, waiting for things to fall apart." She shrugged her shoulders, glancing back towards him in the darkness. "Maybe it's dumb, but I'd rather hope for a better tomorrow than sit around on my ass in a quarantine zone. If the Fireflies are looking for a cure, maybe they'll find it first." She threw in that last sentence after a moment's hesitation, returning her attention to the concrete floor ahead of her.

"It's not dumb at all. That's all we can do sometimes. Just… hope for the best. Not many other options these days."

The conversation ended there, leaving the two to trek through the remainder of the long tunnel in silence. When they finally reached the end of the tunnel, another one intersected with it. Lee extended his hand towards her, signaling for her to remain still.

Their flashlights lit up the new tunnel, and Ellie stopped dead in her tracks, just behind Lee's hand.  _Jesus…_  A horde of clickers stood between them and the direction they wanted to go, and she stayed completely still as she glanced towards Lee, hoping he'd figure out a way for them to get out of this mess. There were other tunnels they could take, surely, they just had to… get by these things undetected.

Another tunnel branched off the intersection they were on. She wasn't sure where it'd lead, but it was their best bet. Gesturing for Lee to follow her, she took several quiet steps towards the empty tunnel, hoping that her footsteps were quiet enough to not be heard by the clickers. Luckily, it seemed they haven't noticed her. Maybe being short and light wasn't such a bad thing after all.

Lee followed shortly behind, his voice almost inaudible as his boots squelched in the standing water, quiet, but not nearly quiet enough. "Alright, we need to-" His speech was cut off as something rose up out of the water standing in a deep pool lining the tunnel, grabbing onto his leg and let out a wail. The sound echoed off the walls, forcing Ellie to swivel around to see Lee falling to the ground, letting out a pained yelp as he landed on his injured shoulder. Before she could even react, he began to kick at the clicker clawing at his leg, reaching for his hatchet on his backpack, pulling it out and plunging it through its head.

Once the danger was over, for now, he sheathed the weapon, back into its loop on the backpack, before pushing the corpse away from him. His eyes widened as the soft clicking that once filled the air had become a wall of feral noise. The horde had been alerted, and were practically sprinting towards them. Lee quickly pushed himself to his feet, grabbing a hold of Ellie by her arm and pulling her along with him.

"Run!"

* * *

Clementine and Joel had tried several different paths, each one with a problem of its own. Some were blocked off, while others were just… straight up dead-ends. After minutes of non-stop backtracking, they eventually found a pathway through the cracks near one of the tunnels, following it into the unknown. They came to a stop as they noticed the ground underneath them wasn't the same a few steps ahead, barely able to recognize what it was through the darkness surrounding them. The floor was replaced by rusty, crumbling grates, the only thing standing between them and the other side. It looked marginally safe to walk across, but any extra weight could probably cause the whole thing to crumble to hell. Under those grates, only a few feet below, a strong current of water surged, strong enough to carry someone… nowhere good, Clementine assumed. She stared bewildered towards Joel, unsure of how to proceed. Swallowing, she opened her mouth to speak. "What do you think?"

For a moment, Joel didn't respond, looking between her and the weakened grates. "You should go first. If I go across, the platform's more likely to fall in, and then you're stuck over here." She felt his gaze focus on her, a serious look in his eyes. "Stay along the walls, too. That way you have more footing if it  _does_  give way." He adjusted the strap on his backpack, grimacing. "And I'll be right here. If it falls, I'll grab you. Okay?"

Clementine nodded in agreement, setting her uneasiness aside in order to take the first step forward. The girl struggled in her own thoughts, trying to determine whether or not to trust that guy, or perhaps even more remarkably, whether the amount of trust she had  _already_  placed in Joel had been far too excessive. He would've shot Lee… he  _wanted_  to… that wasn't something she was willing to forget, let alone forgive any time soon, as though the image of Joel's rage-filled eyes were engraved into her mind. The most skeptical side of her shouted at the top of its imaginary lungs, yelling in an attempt to reach her, to  _stop_  her before it was too late.

Was the fact that the steel wall split them in two really just a mere coincidence? If so, would Joel and Ellie take advantage of that fact…? Those thoughts plagued her endlessly, torturing her, causing the girl to grimace in concern. What were the odds that Joel would push her into the water the moment he had a chance? There was, unfortunately, only one way to find out.

The grate played its melody the moment the sole of her boot came into contact with its dilapidated structure, sending a cold chill down her spine.

_You're not gonna fall. You're not gonna fall. You're not gonna…_

She took a second step, and then a third, following Joel's advice and sticking close to the walls. Some areas felt looser than others, but nevertheless, she slowly made her way through the immensely unsafe path.

' _I'll be right here. If it falls, I'll grab you. Okay?_ _.'_

She didn't expect it, not from Joel, but hearing that helped a little. It sounded almost like Dad, back when he taught her how to swim, though why on Earth she'd get such a feeling from  _Joel_  of all people escaped her. Nearing the tunnel's end, she could barely keep her breathing steady, trying her best to keep a slow pace.

It hardly mattered, in the end.

The metal underneath her made a terrifying sound as her left foot fell through the grates, causing her to let out a soft shriek. It was only a small crack brought about by the combination of the floor's weak structure and her weight, and luckily, that same floor continued to stand below her, in spite of what had transpired. Her problems didn't end there, unfortunately, as things would prove to not be so simple.

"I'm- I'm stuck…" She called back to Joel, attempting to keep a level head despite her situation. No matter how much she pulled, her left leg refused to move, stuck beneath the grates. It took her a second to realize the reason why, but she did so easily upon closer inspection. The sharp metal had cut through her pants, leaving minor lacerations on her leg, the torn fabric blocking its passage. As if that wasn't enough, her boot was much too large to fit through the hole after going through it the first time, leaving her with only a handful of options. "It's okay… I'm alright. I just… need a sec." She insisted, trying to think of a way out. She turned to look back towards Joel. "Don't come too close, okay? Or we're both gonna fall." Her biggest concern was the possibility of the rest of the grates collapsing. Every move had to be made with utmost caution, so they  _had_  to be careful.

"Listen, it'll be alright, okay?" She looked back towards Joel as he spoke, taking off his backpack and tossing it to the other side of the tunnel. It hit concrete, luckily, instead of smashing through the grates, which… helped.

 _Don't you listen?_  She began to try and force her way out, using her knife to pry open the rust-covered metal over her leg.

"Don't move," he continued, taking a single step towards her, and the girl pulled her knife away from the metal. It was a shot in the dark, at best, but… they weren't left with many options. Trying to get the leg out on her own wasn't working, all thanks to the sharp metal encompassing it. Regardless of what her stances were on it, she  _needed_  the help, and that's all there was to it.

"…Be careful," she told him softly, facing away from him as he continued to approach her.

She could feel his presence as he drew near, his voice reaching her left ear. "Alright, now… let's take it slow. I'm gonna grab your boot, try and get it out, okay?" The grate groaned, and Clementine winced. Joel pulled, using his two hands to delicately move her leg into the proper position, before yanking it out with force, effectively getting the girl out of her predicament. Together, they made their way to the other side, relatively safely, though not without a few bruises to keep them company.

Upon resting on the concrete floor, her first order of business was to take care of the mess she had made of her leg. It wasn't as bad as it looked, nor did it hurt more than any other ordinary cut. All it'd take was a tiny bit of wrapping. She didn't have any bandages left, not after the utter shitshow the last twenty-four hours had been, so the girl settled for slicing off her left sleeve.  _This should work…_

They were okay now, and hopefully Lee and Ellie were too. Clementine hugged both her knees, letting out a sigh of relief. Her attention then turned to Joel, before facing away again, and speaking up. "Thanks for the help…"

It came out less encouraging than intended, though that could easily be attributed to how grim their situation was.

 _Lee… p_ _lease be okay_.

She was tired. Just… tired. Leaning her head against the wall behind her, all she wished for in the world was for a moment of rest. Just a second of being able to… not worry about anything at all.

Joel rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at her. "Yeah." He let out the word in a sigh, looking down the sewer beyond the grates with his flashlight. "Come on, we gotta keep moving."

Before Clementine could rise to her feet, a sound emanated from the other side of the abyss. The sound of screeching… screaming… the mixture of the sounds were tough to comprehend in the thin tunnels of the sewer, but  _something_  was definitely heading towards them.

"Clem!" Her head turned towards the sound of Lee's voice, her eyes scanning the dark void in front of her in hopes that her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.

"Lee!" She shouted back, just barely able to recognize the figure of Lee, as well as Ellie, on the opposite side of the grated floor. His flashlight blinded her momentarily, though it didn't keep her from standing up as soon as her body would allow her to.

"We got company! Any safe way across?!" Lee shouted towards them, a question that caught her off-guard, her eyes widening in panic. As hard as it was to say it, judging from Lee's tone, they couldn't afford to waste a second.

"There's no other way!" She called back, the fear in her eyes slowly becoming more apparent. "You can make it… you can! Just take it slow!" She took a few steps forward, her hands slightly extended in a apprehensive fashion. "I'll help you, hurry!" They didn't have time to say anything else, to come up with a better plan. If things went south, they'd just have to make a run for it. In the midst of that, she was determined to help however she could, pulling out her revolver to provide cover for Lee and Ellie in case the clickers caught up to them.

_Don't let them fall… Don't lose them again…_

Ellie turned back, glancing in the direction they had come from, before looking back towards Clementine and Joel on the other side. "Alright,  _shit_ , I'm coming across!" She called out, before she took a step forward.

Each step brought her closer to the other side as she hugged the wall, her palms flat on the concrete. So far, it looked like the grates were going to hold. By the time she was halfway across, the clickers had gone from a distant drone to an uproarious threat, as if they'd come around the corner at any second. She let out a yelp as one of the grates buckled underneath her weight, forcing her to step over it and onto the next one. She cursed quietly, but kept going, getting closer to the other side. Finally, she was close enough for Clementine to reach out and grab her.

The expression on Ellie's face… the eerie sound of the metal falling apart beneath her… it all gave it away long before the fact.

"Ellie!" Clementine rushed forward, brimming with adrenaline, and catching the girl's hand in the nick of time. From her perspective, the moment that followed lasted an eternity. She tried, tried as hard as she could to pull Ellie back, feeling the muscles in her arms give in until her body plunged forward.

"No, no, no…!"

She fell head-first into the water, any sounds meaning to escape her lips instantaneously silenced by it.

Suddenly, it all went quiet… almost peacefully so. Ellie tried to speak, to call out for her, but it was all just white noise underneath the rushing water filling her ears. It was dark, and she felt her body being dragged by the current. The girl didn't struggle against it, nor did she call for help… she couldn't possibly do so, as she choked on sewage. Her legs violently moved back and forth, eyes widened in despair. Her vision faded, her senses dissipating… before everything faded completely.


	6. Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are again, a little earlier than the scheduled day x) Due to the nature of this chapter, I'm going to be releasing the next chapter on this coming Tuesday as scheduled (as I am still working on the finishing touches), so you folks will be getting _double_ the dose this week :) These two chapters are very fluff-oriented, but I hope you enjoy the adventure nonetheless!

Ellie coughed violently as she crawled away from the river of sewage still flowing out of the sewer. She felt slimy, and gross, and the aftertaste of shit seemed impossible to get rid of. She managed to lift her head to examine where they’d ended up, only to be met with some sort of drainage ditch. The water had deposited them along the bank of the ditch, where Ellie now laid her back against the warm concrete. The sun beamed onto her from above, and the wind rustled through the overgrown trees surrounding the ditch, along with the soft melody of birds chirping in the distance. Nearby, Clementine was also laying on her back, eyes closed. Her hat had fallen off in the fall, leaving her tangled locks of hair an utter mess, and had washed up near Ellie. Cursing under her breath, she grabbed the hat, pulling herself up into a sitting position on the incline. Her eyes immediately went to some sort of writing on the wall next to an entrance into the sewers, where they likely would’ve ended up if the grate hadn’t had other plans.

**WARNING, INFECTED INSIDE. DO NOT OPEN.**

_Yeah, no shit._

She took a glance around them, but found no sign of Lee or Joel. She thought she heard them in the tunnel, from behind, but they disappeared after that. They were alone. Panic rose in her chest, her breathing hitching with heaving breaths in between. She hadn’t been this far away from Joel, or any adult, since… well, Boston. At least she had Clem with her. The girl was more than capable of defending herself, and Ellie wasn’t so bad either, so together… maybe they had a chance to escape and find Joel and Lee.

She turned back towards Clementine, calling out the girl’s name, but she received no response, the girl’s eyes still closed. _Shit… please don’t have a concussion or something. Please please please…_

She crawled towards the girl, pulling her away from the stream of flowing sewage at the bottom of the ditch. Her eyes went to the drainage pipe, a sense of fear washing over her. What if the clickers followed them down here? They couldn’t stay here, not with that danger lurking. Cursing once more, she continued to pull the girl away from the ditch, up to the top of the incline and onto flat land. She didn’t have time to try and wake Clementine up, not yet… not with the clickers possibly following them down here.

“ _Please_ don’t be heavy,” she muttered to herself, hoping the girl wouldn’t hear her in her unconscious state. She managed to get the girl up, wrapping her arm around herself, before dragging her away from the ditch. Nearby, a two-story house sat on the other side of the street. _It’ll do._

Wasting no time, her energy reserves running on fumes with her having to make sure Clementine wouldn’t fall over, she made her way towards the house. She tried the door, and to her relief, it wasn’t locked. Pushing it open, she carried Clem inside, laying her down on a couch in the living room before rushing back towards the door, locking it. She let out a heavy breath before turning back towards the living room. Sitting down on the coffee table next to Clem’s couch, she laid her hat on it before gently tapping the unconscious girl with the palm of her hand. “Clem? Clem, c’mon, wake up!” There was a hint of desperation in her voice, like a little kid lost at an amusement park. Being on her own wasn’t something she wanted. At least, she had Clementine there, but that’s only if she managed to wake up. They couldn’t stay here forever, either, and if she had a concussion, they might end up having to stay for a longer than she was comfortable with.

Time they didn’t have, but it wasn’t like they had a choice.

After a couple tries, she finally gave up, slouching as she continued to sit across from the girl. She didn’t know what to do, and that anxiety showed itself in every movement she made, her hands shaking violently. She quickly leaned over Clementine, putting her ear over the girl’s mouth. She was still breathing, so… she wasn’t dead, at least? Also meant that her lungs weren’t full of water, which would’ve been another problem entirely. Sighing, Ellie pushed herself to her feet.

_Guess I’ll just have to wait until you wake up, which hopefully… will be soon. Please?_

Her attention then focused on the room around her. Obvious signs of decay littered the room, from rotted floorboards to torn wallpaper. This place hasn’t been lived in, not for at least a decade, which… surprisingly made her feel safer. The thought of stumbling across those bandits from Pittsburgh had her feeling anxious, so at least she knew she hadn’t found herself taking refuge in one of their outposts, or something. The decor reminded her of those old-timey movies she’d ‘borrow’ from her drill instructor, taking place in the nineteen-thirties or forties. Expensive-looking furniture with ornate designs on them littered the room, and faded but equally gaudy portraits and landscapes hung on the walls. Whoever had lived here before lived a life she could barely comprehend, and she wasn’t sure if she envied or pitied them.

Either way, she hoped they left something useful behind for them to use. Clementine had a gnarly gash on her forehead, which oozed blood at - luckily - a slow rate, so she needed to tend to that as soon as possible. She climbed the stairs leading to the second floor, deciding to search through the bathroom first, hoping to come across _any_ medical supplies, a first aid kit or something, but found nothing beyond a half-used roll of toilet paper and a long-since-expired tube of toothpaste.

“ **Fuck** , c’mon… gimme _something_ here.”

She pushed a small tub filled with empty ointment tubes away from her, letting out a frustrated sigh. With the bathroom a bust, she moved on to the bedroom, although she doubted her luck would change. She managed to find a couple shirts that’d been left behind in the evacuation, but they were way too big to even wear. _Smelling like shit is starting to get_ _ **really**_ _fucking old._ She clasped the bundle of clothes in her hand, dumping them on the coffee table downstairs. At least they’d make for decent temporary bandages, but she still had to find something to use as disinfectant.

Finally, she stepped into the kitchen, searching the cabinets for anything still edible. All of her food would undoubtedly be ruined, and she could already feel the faint pang of hunger deep within her stomach. Almost everything that had been left behind passed their expiration date over a decade ago, though, and the only useful thing left was half a bottle of vodka. _Guess I could use this as disinfectant._ _We’ve_ _ **both**_ _got shit to clean out…_ She ran her finger along a cut on her right arm, which had been left by the serrated edge of what remained of the sewer pipe’s grate, leaving her sleeve torn. It wasn’t deep, from what she could tell, or bled too much, but the likelihood of infection from the rust and shit was more than enough to worry her. _One_ infection was enough.

She unscrewed the cap on the bottle, gently pouring the foul-smelling liquid over the cut, grimacing as pain shot through her body. Hissing in her breath, she took the bottle back to the living room, sitting back down in her spot on the coffee table, grabbing one of the shirts and cutting off a small section of it with her knife before dousing it in the alcohol.

“Alright…” she breathed, looking towards Clementine’s unconscious form tentatively. “This might sting a bit, so don’t like… wake up and shoot me, okay?”

_Guess there’s only one way to find out…_

She slowly lifted the soaked piece of fabric, gently dabbing the wound on the girl’s forehead as she wiped away the dirt and shit off of it. She winced with every movement, expecting the girl to wake up and attack her at any moment, but that moment never came. Once the wound and the surrounding area was clean, she set down the dirty fabric, cutting off a longer piece of the plaid shirt, wrapping it around the girl’s head and tying it off in the back.

“Okay… see? All done. That wasn’t so bad, right?” She let out a sigh, shaking her head. “Way to go, Ellie. You’re talking to someone who can’t even hear you.”

Pushing herself to her feet, she laid down on the other couch across the room, her eyes focused on the stained-white ceiling above her. With Clementine out of commission, there wasn’t much else she could really… do, besides go through what would undoubtedly be an absolute mess inside her backpack. She put off that task for as long as she could, the seconds turning into minutes, before half an hour had already flown by. Sighing, she finally lifted herself from the couch, slumping onto the ground next to her backpack, and unzipping it.

The sight that met her was more than enough to make her heart ache. Pretty much _everything_ was ruined. No food survived, just like she’d expected, and all of her comics were ruined even further, including the one Joel had found her on the beach, along with everything else she carried along with her. All she had left was her pistol, ammunition, and her butterfly knife. Her stomach continued to growl softly, but loud enough to pose a serious problem. Without any food, how were they even going to survive on their own? She should’ve gone out looking for food. She should’ve done _anything_ else but lay on that fucking couch for half an hour, with one eye focused on Clementine, in hopes that the girl would _eventually_ wake up. There were dozens of reasons why she didn’t, though. For one, she didn’t want to leave Clementine on her own, at the mercy of the infected, and she wasn’t really… sure that the girl was going to be okay. There could be a hundred different injuries that she wasn’t even aware of, but that head gash had definitely taken priority. Lastly, she didn’t want to stray too far from the house, just in case Joel and Lee had come out nearby, and they tried to find them by the sewage pipe they’d come out of. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen, and all she was left with was that uncomfortable silence for what felt like an eternity.

“ _Ellie_ …?” Clementine’s voice jolted her gaze away from the backpack, and away from that filthy, sludgy mess that replaced all of her prized belongings. With a sigh of relief, she dropped the soaked comic she’d gotten from Joel onto the ground next to her backpack, open to a page that was nearly unreadable due to the brown gunk soaked into it. She approached the girl quickly, sitting down on the coffee table once more.

“Y - You alright?” The question immediately escaped Ellie’s lips as she took a moment to look over the girl, as if she’d managed to get new wounds while she was busying herself with the backpack.

“What happened?” Sighing, Ellie averted her gaze, biting her lip as she tried to think of what she’d say to answer the girl’s question. After everything that happened, where would she even start? “Well… _shit_ … you and I fell into the pipe. Joel and Lee followed us in, I think. I heard them, then… t - they were gone. The pipe split off at one point, and t - they might’ve been pushed down… the other one.” Her voice was shaky, the mixture of fear and worry and uncertainty mixing together into one dangerous concoction, like a molotov ready to explode. “I haven’t seen them since, but I think they made it out, too. Had to.” She paused for a couple seconds, her breath hitching. “We, uh… it dropped us off outside this place. Couldn’t exactly stay by the pipe, in case those clickers followed us, so I carried you here.” She took in a deep breath, picking up the girl’s hat that she’d placed down on the coffee table earlier, when they first arrived. “Checked the house for stuff while you were out. Found a bunch of clothes, but nothing our size. Used one to bandage up your wound there,” she indicated the girl’s temple. “Whoever lived here left half a bottle of vodka in the fridge, and I used that to disinfect it. For once, growing up in a military school’s coming in handy.” She let out a dry laugh, which came out more awkward than she’d intended. Finally, as her eyes averted to the hat she’d been spinning with her hand, she extended it towards the girl. “Saved this for you, too.”

_Still smells like shit, though. Sorry about that._

The girl slowly took the hat from her with both hands, holding it slightly above her lap as she sat up. “I owe you big time,” she told Ellie with a faint smile, although she could tell that it was slightly forced. Ellie simply nodded; this wasn’t a moment to feel pride in taking care of the girl, since they hardly had time for that.

Before Ellie could stop her, Clementine slowly stood up, rushing towards where Ellie had left Clementine’s backpack next to the coffee table. She unzipped the bag, the faint smile she’d seen before quickly falling as she rummaged through the contents. She was probably as dismayed as Ellie had been to see her things completely destroyed. _My fault, too._ She took out what appeared to be several ruined books and leaving them on the floor beneath the table. After a moment, Clementine seemed to find something, her eyes lighting up, and she pulled out another book that didn’t seem to be covered in that much muck. Questions burned in the back of Ellie’s mind, namely why she carried so many books around with her, but she kept them to herself. She was more worried about Clementine overexerting herself than anything else. She’d been out for at least forty minutes, so the likelihood she had a concussion was pretty fucking high. _Too_ high.

“We need to look for food before sundown, and we _need_ to find Lee and Joel. They can’t be that far,” Clementine finally said as she returned the book back into the depths of her backpack. “If we can’t find them today, we’ll wait in one of the houses and try again tomorrow, _maybe_ make a fire… I don’t know.”

Ellie found herself nodding along with each thing Clementine said, having thought of most of those things while the girl was unconscious. There were a lot of obstacles in the way, but… that didn’t make the fact they needed to find food any less important, or finding Joel and Lee.

She let out a sigh before laying all of the cards on the table. Clementine, at least, had to know what they were getting themselves into before they left. “Clem, you were out for like… forty minutes. You’ve probably got a pretty _bad_ concussion, and I don’t exactly know… _how_ to help with that.” She let out another sigh, realizing how overbearing she was sounding in that moment. Maybe it was because she didn’t want to see her newfound friend die just because she decided she didn’t want to rest. That was probably what was going to happen, though, so all Ellie could do was make sure she _didn_ _’t_ die. “Yes, we need to find food, but we gotta be careful.” After a brief pause, which would surely be followed up with Clementine denying that she was in any pain, and felt fine, Ellie continued, hoping to avoid that conversation. “Lee mentioned a radio tower before, when we were at the beach. Might be best to head towards that, wherever it is. We can find food along the way, maybe more supplies. They’ll probably head there, hoping that we’d find our way there too.” _That’s if we can find the fucking thing._ The area was so covered in brush and trees that it was impossible to see the rest of the town nearby. They’d have to find high ground, figure out where they were, and make a move from there.

“Look, I’m not passing out again,” the girl replied with a chuckle, ruffling through her backpack one final time before closing it shut. The girl pushed herself to her feet, picking up her baseball cap from the couch and putting it on. “Don’t worry about me, I’m peachy.” She continued, though Ellie hardly believed her. She didn’t make a fuss out of it, deciding that they had better things to do. If they were anything alike, then she’d be too proud - or headstrong - to admit that she might not be at one hundred percent. It was obvious that their best bet was to get to that radio tower. It’d be where Joel and Lee would head, and hopefully they wouldn’t have to wait too long for them to find it too, if they managed to get there first. “Radio tower… okay,” Clementine uttered quietly, the girl appearing to be lost in thought for a moment. “If Joel and Lee aren’t there by the time we reach the tower, we might have to spend the night,” she pointed out in a disheartened tone. “That would suck… but it might happen. We need to be ready for anything.” She laid her backpack on the coffee table, pulling out a bunch of items from within. “Let’s start with the stuff we have.” She laid out the items in a row, looking back towards Ellie. “I got… a gun. Six rounds. Half empty box of band-aids. Old, _really_ old chewing gum, and… my knife. What about you?”

Ellie’s frown deepened. The girl didn’t have that much in the way of supplies, and she compiled the list of her own stuff in her head. It was easy to list, given how short it was. “I’ve got one bullet left, in the chamber,” she started, a worried tone evident in her voice. “Pretty much all my food was ruined, so I’ve got nothing there. All I had left were those comics, and even _those_ are ruined. I do have that bottle of vodka, though.” _Wonder what it tastes like? …No, Ellie, save it… we’ll need it for disinfectant._ “And some of those clothes I found upstairs. They’re clean enough to keep using for bandages, at least.”

_I’ve got pretty much nothing, really._

Clementine rubbed her nose for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. She took in a deep breath, crossing her arms over her chest. “No guns until we get there, okay? Unless we absolutely have to. We’re both running low… and we’re gonna need everything we can spare. There’s the noise, too.” She paused for a moment. “We might not find any food on the way… but _don’t_ freak out if we don’t. I’ll keep an eye out, just don’t get your hopes up.”

As she detailed out their plan, Ellie had to resist the urge to retort. She knew better than to waste her last bullet, of course, and having no food wasn’t the _worst_ thing. They had time, and that’s all she needed to know. Of course, she understood why she was saying this, more so to make sure they were both on the same page rather than _actually_ trying to boss her around. At least, she hoped that was the case. Right now, there wasn’t any room for bickering, not when they were on their own. Packing up the bottle of vodka, and the clothes she’d gathered, she slipped her backpack on.

“Stay close, and if we get split up, we meet back at the tower. Got it?” Clementine finished, a confident smile pursing her lips. She packed up her things while she spoke, giving Ellie a passing glance as she walked towards the front door. Ellie followed her, readjusting the backpack on her back, trying to find that comfortable spot. As much as she didn’t like the idea of Clementine going out there in the state that she was in, she knew that she couldn’t stop her, and they _had_ to get moving. Waiting was out of the question.

“We should head for high ground, see if we can figure out where we are, and where that radio tower is,” Ellie suggested, following the girl outside. The street was empty, thankfully, grass covering most of the concrete in thick patches. Dilapidated cars lined the road, too rusted and old to even be worth checking for supplies. The sun was rising higher in the sky, turning what was originally a darkened gray sky into a mixture of yellow and orange, which would soon be followed with sky blue. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, leading to the air to slowly warm up, not that Ellie would complain. After the past few weeks they’ve spent on the road, warm days were a blessing she’d hardly refuse.

“How about over there?” Clementine asked, pointing over her right shoulder with her thumb. Next time several homes lied a large, green hill and a winding road that overlooked the entire area. It’d certainly give them a better view of the radio tower. “Looks climbable, right?”

Ellie found herself scrutinizing the hill before giving Clementine a short nod. There didn’t appear to be an easy way to get to it from where they were, but if they climbed to the roof of one of the houses, they’d probably be able to just hop across. That’s if they managed to actually get to the top of one.

They slowly, carefully made their way towards the house. The silence made for a rather uncomfortable walk, especially with the morning heat crashing down upon them. Ellie wanted to say something, but found herself stopping short before she managed to open her mouth, choosing to keep whatever dumb thing she was going to say to herself. Instead, she followed the girl until they reached the house, then waiting for Clementine to figure out how they were going to pull this off. The front door appeared to be locked, and Clementine tried just to make sure, only for the knob to click in defiance, denying them entry. Clementine’s gaze then focused on a small, two-seater car, before her face lit up.

“Hey, Ellie,” she exclaimed excitedly, trotting towards the back of the two-seater. “Give me a hand.”

They pushed the car with every ounce of strength they had. Ellie had chanced a glance towards the girl next to her, seeing that the girl’s hair had fallen into her face. Still, Clementine kept pushing, her own gaze meeting Ellie’s after a moment.

“You wanna… play a game?” Clementine had decided to break the ice, the nature of her request surprising Ellie. For some reason, she didn’t really see her as the ‘game’ type, a bit too serious for her age, although that was mostly due to her experiences, she was sure. “I ask you a question, and you _have_ to answer it. If you do, you can ask me anything. We take turns.” She explained the rules as they finally got the car in position, taking a moment to catch their breath. “First one to chicken out loses,” she finished, a smile stretching across her face right before she climbed on top of the two-seater.

Ellie joined the girl on top of the car, unable to help the amused chuckle that escaped her lips. “A game, huh? Like truth or dare, but it’s all truth?” She joked, waiting for Clementine to jump and climb onto the roof of the building.

“It’ll be fun, promise,” Clementine replied. “Here… how old are you?”

“Guess that’s a start, then,” she muttered. “Fourteen. What about you?” She scrutinized the girl for a moment, already having a rough estimate in her head. She was either thirteen or fourteen, as much as she could gather. Maybe fifteen, though she doubted that. At the least, starting off with bouncing the question back will leave her with a bit more to work with later. Get the simple things out of the way first.

“Thirteen,” Clementine replied with a pout, a hint of disappointment evident in her voice while she stretched her arms out, preparing herself to climb onto the house’s roof. They crossed the roof quickly, its slight incline easy enough to scale with little difficulty. The drop down to the other side was about ten feet below, the ground being mostly dirt and mud. Ellie watched as Clementine dropped off the roof, landing safely on the ground below. It was graceful, almost choreographed. _Probably has jumped off plenty of roofs before. Guess you get used to it._ She followed in Clem’s footsteps, taking a couple of steps back before taking the plunge, bending her knees to take the brunt of the impact. Once she was back on her feet, Clementine asked her next question, a hint of… _something_ that Ellie couldn’t quite decipher in her voice. “Did you have a lot of friends in Boston?”

The question had caught her off guard, her mind going back to that horrible - memorable - _great_ night in the mall in Boston, filled with water soakers and broken arcade machines and heartbreak and death. It was where she watched her best friend turn right in front of her, while she lived to relive the moment, over and over, in her nightmares. Those memories were a mixed blessing, the last ones she’d have of Riley, filled with excitement, tension, disappointment, horror, remorse - and finally… guilt.

_Ellie’s eyes had opened in a split-second, the hissing sound filling her ears and the feeling of teeth against her skin being more than enough to equate to an adrenaline shot. The instant whatever it was had made contact with her skin, she’d instantly moved into action, forcing the infected off of her in a desperate shove. She grabbed her knife wildly, readying herself to kill it when she-_

_It wasn’t an infected._

_Her voice was one of bewilderment and relief, the sight of her best friend, the same one that had disappeared in what felt like forever again, being one that was both unexpected and welcome. “Riley?” She found herself staring at the girl, in a stupor. She wasn’t sure what to think, but… Riley was here, on the ground… in her quarters, and holding a hand out to try and stop Ellie from plunging a blade into her._

_The girl replied to Ellie in a groan of pain, pulling herself back onto her feet in slow, pained movements. Her tone was light, although it was nearly drowned out by her laughter. “Owww… I landed on my hip.”_

“ _What the hell?” Ellie let out a breath of relief, rubbing her neck where Riley had pretended to bite her with shaking hands. “I thought I was bitten.”_

_Riley giggled, nodding her head. “I know. It was kinda awesome.”_

She shook away the memory, forcing herself to focus on formulating the answer she’d give for the question. Riley was gone, a memory of a time when her life had been so much simpler, times she’d never get back. Maybe she was right in thinking that those memories were a blessing and a curse.

Finally, she replied to the question, her voice even and emotionless, although she wasn’t sure if that was because of the question itself, or the memories associated with it. “Not really. I knew people, sure, but… I only had one… _real_ friend. Riley. I told you about her, back in the sewer. And… there was a woman named Marlene, too, but she sorta just… looked out for me, really. I met Joel just before I left Boston, so I don’t think he really _counts_.” She took in a deep breath, trying to reign in the emotions bubbling to the surface of her mind. _Focus, Ellie. You’ve still got a long road ahead._

“That’s, ah… cool,” Clementine said in a tone that easily gave away the fact she knew that she’d hit a nerve, seemingly in an attempt to salvage the mood.

Ellie paid her no mind, and as they ascended the hill, she mulled over her next question, several ideas lining up in her head in a mental checklist, before she finally settled on one. “You and Lee have been on the road awhile, right? Been to any cool places?” _Paris would be cool. Wonder if the Eiffel Tower is still standing after all these years?_ She’d seen pictures of the French city in old magazines. It seemed so vastly different to the world she grew up in that it was almost… _alien_. Foreign, definitely. In another life, maybe she would’ve gotten to go. She’ll never get that chance now.

The girl was lost in thought for a moment, counting something with her fingers, and mouthing words that Ellie couldn’t quite understand. Eventually, her eyes widened in excitement, and she exclaimed her answer with bravado. “A ski resort!” She flashed a smile towards Ellie, continuing. “You know what those are? Lee told me people used to pay to ride in these lifts, get all the way to the top of the mountain, then slide down with these board thingies.” Ellie admired her sense of wonder, something that had been so latent in the baseball-capped girl prior to now that it almost left Ellie speechless. “There was a lodge there. They had music, a fireplace… food wasn’t all that, but they had a _Christmas_ _tree_ with lights and everything! They got the power from a wind turbine. It was so awesome.” It certainly… sounded like it. She imagined every detail that Clementine gave her, as if painting a picture in her mind. It sounded nice, much nicer than anything she really got to experience living inside the quarantine zone. Everything was so… run-down and drab and… about as dead as the world that surrounded the zone. There was so much that she hadn’t gotten to experience yet, and every ‘first’ got filed away in her mind in a mental scrapbook. Some day, she wanted to expand upon it, add stuff to it that wasn’t just… being in a forest, or seeing fireflies. After this journey was done, and they got the cure, there’d be time for that kind of thing. Right? “It, uh… we didn’t stay there long. You know how it is, life on the road.” Clementine shrugged, the smile she sported earlier fading into a frown. “Anyway… your turn. And this one’s big, so think hard before you answer. If you could go anywhere, do whatever you wanted, no strings attached. What would you do?”

Ellie scrunched her nose at the question, a small, bemused smile crossing her face. “Hypotheticals, huh” Truth was, she didn’t really have any idea what she’d do or where she’d go. She’d barely experienced the world as it was. Her thoughts returned to that forest, the one she had gone through with Joel on their way to find Bill. She’d been so fascinated by nature, because she’d seen nothing like it, not with her own eyes. The world was a mystery, so much bigger than she imagined, and yet… fourteen years ago, it might’ve felt _small_. Born too late to explore the world, but born just in time to scavenge the wastelands. She knew which one she’d prefer out of the two. “Well, uh…” she mulled over a few potential ideas in her head, thinking of all the places she learned about through those geography and travel magazines she used to read back in Boston. Paris was nice, but one place stuck out to her like a sore thumb, a place so wildly different to anything she’s ever known. “Maybe… travel to Norway? Read about it once… lots of mountains, winding roads, and something called _fords_ or… something. It looked so awesome in the pictures that it almost seemed… unreal, you know? Maybe I’d learn how to ski.” She quietly laughed at the comment, everything coming full circle to Clementine’s ski resort answer. If it wasn’t so impossible, maybe they could’ve learned together, and traveled to Norway, but Europe might as well have been on another planet entirely.

“Alright then. Hypotheticals… I can work with that,” she muttered aloud, trying to think up something to ask Clem. The hill continued to become steeper and steeper, leading to them slowing down a bit. She snapped her fingers after a moment, a question coming to mind. She wasn’t sure if Clementine would _have_ an answer, but she was simply curious. She just hoped that it wouldn’t be too personal. “Have you… ever had a crush on someone?”

She remembered Clementine mentioning something about being with a group before, but nothing specific. First time Ellie had ever had _those_ kinds of feelings for someone had been with… Riley, and she still didn’t quite understand them to this day. ‘Butterflies’ and nervousness, things that hardly plagued her before, but had made things all that much more confusing and complicated when her friend had been around. Maybe it was just her that felt that way, or maybe it was normal… whatever normal was these days.

Clementine’s soft expression took a sudden one-eighty, her mouth hanging open for a few seconds until she clumsily choked on her own saliva. She came to a sudden stop, ahead of Ellie. She turned back towards her, the girl’s face flushed red, and her voice noticeably shaky. “What? No, no way!” She quickly protested indignantly, turning away in an instant, her gaze focused on the winding road ahead of them. _Uh huh. Sure._ Ellie found herself thinking with a small smirk. Clearly, whoever Clementine had cared about before was still a sore spot for her, and after a moment, she continued to speak, her tone sounding amused, or mischievous. One of the two, Ellie wasn’t sure. “What about this, then…” she stopped dead in her tracks again, this time without facing towards her. “Have you ever… kissed someone before?”

She half-expected the question Clementine asked, but wished that the girl hadn’t. Those thoughts about Riley and the mall came rushing back like a runaway freight train, forcing her to look away from the girl’s back as she tried to block them out, but was unable to do so.

_The two girls danced on top of a glass cabinet to some song Ellie didn’t recognize. It had a nice beat to it; a smooth, jazzy tone. It was_ _**fun** _ _, which was about the best way she could describe it. As Riley danced away, Elie slowly began to come to a stop, watching the girl for a moment. Her confession earlier repeated in her mind. Riley was joining the Fireflies… Marlene’s group… to say that Ellie felt crushed would be an understatement. Her friend had disappeared on her for weeks, and when she came back into her life, she did so only to tell her that she was leaving the city, and her, behind. It wasn’t fair, none of it, but in some weird, fucked up way, Ellie was also proud of her. She was doing something with her life, with people she believed in. Ellie couldn’t really… say the same._

_After a moment, Riley noticed her standing there, a small giggle escaping the girl’s lips as she grabbed onto Ellie’s hands, preparing for the two to dance together, until she noticed Ellie’s dejected, yet_ _**still** _ _trying to be happy expression._

“ _What is it?”_

_Maybe it was how hurt, abandoned, or well… just about…_ _**everything** _ _that she felt, but Ellie couldn’t just watch her go. Not like this._

_Her voice was soft, almost pleading. “Don’t go.”_

_Several expressions that Ellie couldn’t quite decipher flashed across Riley’s face. Indecision, maybe? Hesitance? Something… else? After a couple seconds of eye contact, the girl grabbed a hold of her Firefly pendant, ripping it off, and tossed it to the floor._

_A wave of emotion washed over Ellie like a tsunami, feelings she didn’t know how to identify, and ones that she did, all coalescing together into one overwhelming one, almost too much to bear. She moved closer to Riley without really meaning to, her lips connecting with Riley’s in one smooth motion. Her heart was in her throat, beating so fast she thought that it might explode. Once the realization kicked in, she pulled away, opening her eyes again, expecting to find her best friend looking back at her with disgust, but that look was nowhere in sight._

_She could feel the embarrassed smile creeping across her face, her face flushed red, as if she’d been caught doing some horrific act, but it wasn’t enough to stop the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. “Sorry…” her voice was a whisper as she apologized, worried about what her friend would say, that nagging feeling in the back of her head continuing to get louder and louder, like the approach of a thunderstorm._

“ _For what?”_

Her heart still ached thinking about that moment, thoughts about how fucked up it was that her best friend would die no soon after that kiss swirling through her brain like a tornado. Had Clementine been looking towards her, the pain would be clearly evident on her face. She was lucky she hadn’t bothered to glance back at her. Clearing her throat, she tried to speak calmly, but her voice had become just as shaky as Clementine’s had been before. “I have. Once.” She didn’t want to elaborate further, although she was sure the girl would eventually ask about it. Explaining what happened with Riley later, though, that was something she didn’t want to do. She couldn’t allow herself to hint at her immunity, even for something as casual as a game. Instead, she let a smirk cross her face, deciding to try and lighten the mood. “I’m guessing you haven’t, then, since you haven’t had a crush before.” She took in a deep breath, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly. “Alright, your turn, then.” She took a moment to think, glancing towards the hat Clementine still worse on her head. It was clear that she treasured it, the only time it ever left her head was when they fell into the sewer pipe. “Alright, I gotta know. Who gave you the hat?”

“I’ll tell you when we reach the top,” the girl replied to her, putting the game on hold for the moment. It didn’t take much longer to reach the crest of the hill, the two walking towards the edge on the other side, taking the time to let the view sink in as they stared intently towards the radio tower in the distance. “That’s _really_ far,” Clementine’s pointed out in awe. “I think we can get there before nightfall, but… I don’t know.” Ellie squinted, sighing. _Yeah, neither do I._ “You asked about the hat, right?” Clementine’s voice reached her right ear, pulling her away from the view. “Dad gave it to me. Birthday gift. Last birthday I ever got to spend with him.” There was the briefest of silences, interrupted by the girl with said hat. “D - Don’t feel bad, okay? I’m glad you asked. Seriously.” She furrowed her brows, sitting down with her knees between her arms. “I’m still looking for them…” she said warmly, though it wasn’t that hard to see the look of hurt in her eyes. “They’re still alive. I know it.”

Ellie plopped down next to Clementine, looking over the city below. The sun wasn’t all that high in the sky yet, but just enough that the orange hue was gone, replaced by a soft blue. She returned her gaze towards the radio tower. It was going to be _fun_ getting there. A whole lot couple happen in that distance. To their left, the river ran through the valley, and further upstream, they could see the city they’d barely escaped from, looking incredibly small compared to when they were there earlier.

“I’m sure they are,” she replied, a smile on her face as she glanced towards the girl. She wasn’t _really_ sure, but hoping had to be better than assuming, right? She couldn’t believe they were even having this conversation in the first place, though. Go back to yesterday, and the fact they’d be sitting on this hill together, and not at each other’s throats, would’ve been too much for her to believe. They started off on the wrong foot, but it seemed that, maybe… maybe she finally found another friend.

She took in a deep breath, drinking in the view for a bit longer, almost mesmerized by the sheer beauty of it. The world was filled with the infected and the dead, but views like this still existed, which gave her all the more reason to enjoy the time she spent out here, on the road. She wouldn’t have seen anything like this in Boston, and she hoped she’d be able to see _more_ in the future. They were on a mission, sure, but sometimes, you gotta stop to smell the roses. _That’s the phrase… right?_

For once, the silence didn’t feel like it was dragging, maybe because things were less awkward now than they had been, or perhaps the view was enough to leave them _both_ in awe. She wasn’t really sure. For a moment, what they were really doing here escaped her mind, too focused on what was in front of her. As she wrapped her arms around her legs, she glanced back towards Clementine.

“It’s your turn, by the way,” she spoke, chuckling. “To ask a question,” she continued, clarifying what she meant. Honestly, she wouldn’t mind just staying up here for a while. Maybe they’d see Lee and Joel from up here, who knows? It was a long walk to the radio tower either way, they had time to enjoy themselves.

“Oh, right. My bad,” Clementine told her with a soft smile, her gaze facing towards the dirt for a moment. A flash of emotion that Ellie couldn’t really identify, but it was gone before she could really dwell on it. Finally, the girl spoke in slow breaths. “After we find the Fireflies… will you stick around? I mean, you and Joel?”

“Hopefully,” Ellie replied honestly, keeping out the part where her end-goal was to help the Fireflies get the cure out of her. It was a long journey to get to Tommy’s, and then to the Fireflies from there, she hardly thought about what they’d do _afterward_. “Whatever happens, it wouldn’t be so bad sticking around with you and Lee,” she continued, the statement being something she meant wholeheartedly. She let out a soft chuckle, a thought crossing her mind. “As long as don’t start stabbing each other again.”

The more she thought about them traveling together long-term, the more her thoughts kept circling back to her immunity. What if they found out they’d been hiding it from them? How long will they be traveling together before it’s discovered? The words of confession were on the tip of her tongue, and remained there for a good long while, but they refused to come out. Whatever this was, whatever friendship they were forging, she didn’t want to ruin it _now_. There would be a time and a place, if she could convince Joel to tell Clementine and Lee. That time just wasn’t… now.

But it would be soon.

 


	7. Refuge

The two girls charged bravely into the unknown with nothing but their prowess and luck to protect them. As sunlight gradually faded around them, the air became several degrees cooler, and every step forward became increasingly more demanding as the shiver running down Clementine’s arms grew progressively more noticeable. There was no telling how much further the radio tower was, or how long they’d have to keep walking. In such a hopeless situation, often the only thing that kept them going was each other.

On their frequent stops, the two girls would listen for signs of life, or lack thereof. When Lee was around, such silences would feel tranquil, but out there, on their own, it felt more like the eerie stillness of a graveyard. Moreover, their food situation had hardly improved since they left the house. They’d tried a number of things by now, like some of Clem’s old chewing gum, something the both of them immediately regretted. Their bad luck would, however, eventually come to a pause, Clementine catching something of interest out of the corner of her eye.

“Ellie? Hang on a minute,” Clem called out in a hushed voice, extending her arm in order to get the girl’s attention. On top of a tall wooden pole was a bird’s nest, and possibly… their big break. “You see that?” She asked. “There could be eggs there. Bird eggs. We can eat those.” She made sure to thoroughly explain, just in case. “You think we can climb up there somehow?”

Ellie peered up at the nest for a moment. The pole stood close to a two-story house nearby, so that could likely make the job… easier, right? Finally, the girl turned back towards Clementine. “We can probably reach it from that window.” She pointed towards a window on the second floor, at the far-right corner of the house. “I could try and reach for it, and you make sure I don’t fall?”

“Deal,” Clementine immediately replied. They could probably try and throw rocks at it if Ellie’s plan didn’t work, though Clem figured that should only be used as a last ditch effort. Thinking about it rationally, the entire thing seemed reckless. They didn’t even know if there really _were_ eggs up there, but desperate times called for desperate measures, and waiting for a tasty deer to show up out of the blue seemed just as stupid of a thing to hope for. “Lead the way,” Clem told her companion, lastly. The smirk on her face making it seem more like she was daring Ellie to actually follow through with it.

Ellie rolled her eyes at that, leading the way to the house, and climbing up the steps onto the porch before trying the door. Luckily, it wasn't locked. They stayed at the door as it creaked open, listening for any threats that might be inside the house. Clementine couldn't hear anything, but in her experience, that didn't mean that nothing was there. Looking around outside for a moment, Ellie banged on the wall near the door, causing Clementine to give the girl an amused look. _Trying to draw them out? Not bad._ Nothing answered the call, and a victorious smile crossed Ellie's face.

The two slipped into the house, shutting the door behind them. The place seemed mostly intact, which was… surprising. As they ascended the stairs, Ellie glanced back towards her, adding in a hushed tone, “we might want to check over the house, too, see if we can't find anything useful. Maybe something to cook the eggs on, and _hopefully_ a change of clothes.”

_Yeah, that sounds nice right about now._

As they reached the top of the stairs, Ellie's gaze focused on the window at the back of the hallway, overlooking the backyard of the home. A small stream ran through the woods behind the house, and that seemed to catch the girl's attention.

Finally, they reach the room at the far side of the house. At first glance, it seemed that it used to be a girl's bedroom, dressers left half-open to reveal left-behind clothes, and a bunch of magazines. Fashion, celebrities, things that hardly mattered. Clementine paid them no mind, instead focusing on the sight of the clothes. Hopefully there was something their size.

“Alright,” Ellie breathed, looking towards the window above the bed. A pink curtain obscured it, which she pulled back before lifting the window open. She threw a sideways glance towards Clementine. “You ready for this?’

“Just about…” Clementine answered, wishing she had the confidence to sound less unsure. If Ellie… if she _fell_ , what in the world were they going to do? _I can't carry her there._ It was a bothersome thought, without a doubt. Clem followed Ellie onto the small roof, careful not to slip and hit her head for the second time that day. _Third time…?_ She wasn't keeping track. “Okay, so, what's the plan?” She asked in a worried tone, avoiding looking down at the street below as much as she possibly could. “You can't just… reach for the nest and _grab it_ like that. You won't stretch that far.” _What would Lee do?_ “We could use a stick, or a broom… or, maybe I just hold your hand or something.” _You're not gonna jump it are you? Tell me she's not jumping it._

“That might work,” Ellie replied, nodding, before looking towards the nest. She took in a deep breath, psyching herself up. “Alright, c’mon.” She extended out her hand, standing at the edge of the roof. Clementine grabbed her hand before dangling her, focusing herself on maintaining her breathing while making sure not to let go. That very thought of accidentally sending the girl falling from this height was enough to fuel the rising sense of anxiety in the pit of her stomach. “I can… just about reach it,” Ellie spoke, stretching her hand out towards the nest. “Don't let go, okay?” She called back.

Clementine didn't bother to answer. Breaking her concentration now would probably only lead to the thing they we're trying to avoid, instead watching as the girl reached closer and closer to the nest, finally managing to grab onto it with her hand before attempting to lift it. Ellie slowly retracted her arm, and Clementine held her breath, silently hoping that the nest wouldn't fall apart and send their prize to its death on the ground. Ellie's smile grew wider as she finally was able to get back onto solid ground. They each looked at the nest in her hands with hungry gazes, six eggs sitting neatly in the middle of it.

“Fuck yes!” Ellie cheered, although quietly, as she let go of Clementine's hand, holding the nest with both hands. “We're eating good tonight, Clem.”

“Nice work!” Clementine said in delight, trying to sound composed despite the rumble in her stomach giving away her desperation. She hadn't eaten anything besides that chocolate bar since Pittsburgh, and it showed in her expression as she first laid eyes on the nest. Together, the two girls carried the egg-filled nest inside the house, setting it on top of a kitchen table downstairs. Clementine sat in one of the chairs, resting her head on her right hand as her mind went over their many possibilities for dinner. “So, how do you like 'em?” She asked suddenly with a sheepish smile, eager to get to work. “Hard-boiled? Scrambled? ...Raw?” She added the last one jokingly, though she'd find it perfectly reasonable if Ellie requested them that way. _‘Lots’a vitamins’_ , she vaguely remembered Luke saying once. “Ask away.”

“Honestly, I’ve never had eggs before… so… chef’s choice,” Ellie replied through a half-smile, plopping herself down on one of the kitchen counters. _She’s never had eggs…?_ Clementine thought in a mixture of amusement and astonishment, realizing just how many simple things from her youth had been taken for granted until then. Ellie wouldn’t have, obviously. She almost felt bad for asking. _I guess I could do Mom’s old recipe. Don’t think I can find any fresh veggies lying around, so… soft-boiled it is._

Clem had a dozen things to take care of, and under the assumption that they were going to get back on the road before nightfall, she couldn’t waste a minute. Hopefully, they’d be able to find something to cook the eggs with, wood to make a fire, a pan to cook them in… They couldn’t exactly expect the stove to work in this place, not after fourteen years, so they had to make do with what they had.

Ellie swung her legs back and forth idly, looking towards Clementine, and after a moment, she scrunched her nose. The smell that had been permeating the air since they left the sewer filled both of their nostrils, and the girl pushed herself off of the counter and onto her feet. “While you’re cooking them, then, I’m gonna go through those clothes upstairs. Maybe find something that’d fit us. There’s also a stream out back. We could bottle some of it, and clean off. Take turns. I’d _love_ to get this smell out of my hair,” Ellie smiled slightly, a breathy chuckle following the action. “Just call if you need me, or something,” she finished, rolling her shoulders before strolling towards the stairs by the living room, heading back up to the girl’s bedroom.

Clementine had simply nodded to the girl’s announcement, mentally thinking out every little thing she’d need to pull this off. First came the easy part, getting rid of the nest in favor of an actual pot. The family that used to live there had a few in the kitchen cabinet, along with a couple metal pots, and so, with relative haste, the girl chose the biggest pot she could find for the boiling part. Next, Clem carried the pot all the way to the stream behind the house, filling it with water, before walking all the way back to the kitchen. A tedious task, for sure, but one she did without an ounce of discontent. After dropping the six eggs in the water-filled pot, it was about time to go out looking for wood to make a fire.

_Here goes nothing…_

Without Lee’s hatchet, Clementine had very little to rely on other than her luck, spending an embarrassing amount of time picking up fallen branches in the woods’ pathway. “This should do,” she muttered, heading back to the house in a hurry. Spending another handful of minutes gathering everything that she’d need, she was finally ready for the hardest part of the process, one that she was thankfully familiar with, perhaps too much so for her liking. She also took the time to search the rest of the house for anything they could use, the stuff inside the living room’s drawers in particular. Lo and behold, the one next to the couch had matches inside of it. Only four of them, but surely more than enough to be useful. _Rocks, dry wood, grass… the nest should help. All that’s left is to burn everything._ She lit one of the matches, laying it next to the spot she had prepared a few moments ago and later watching with enthusiasm as everything near it began to burst into flames. _Awesome._ Finally, she brought the pot from the kitchen all the way to the spot beside the house and let the eggs boil for a few minutes, watching them closely as they did, and listening to the calm bubbling sounds until she was satisfied that they were finished. Once they were ready, all that was left was setting the table.

_I hope they’re good. I hope… Ellie likes ‘em._

“Er-… dinner’s ready!” The girl shouted from the kitchen, hoping that Ellie would hear it from wherever she was.

* * *

 

While Clementine cooked the eggs they found, Ellie searched the house. She started with the dresser in the girl’s room, rummaging through it for anything she liked, or fit her. Luckily, whoever lived here seemed to be about her size, and she’d put together a couple articles that she liked. A gray t-shirt, a pair of blue jeans, a red and black plaid hoodie. She put together some clothes that seemed to be closer to Clementine’s size, leaving them on the kitchen table for the girl for after she was done cooking. After Clementine had gathered water from the stream, and went out looking for firewood, Ellie searched the bathroom, hoping to find some soap, which would make the process of getting cleaned up a bit easier, and less smelly. She was surprised to find both a bar of soap and a half-full bottle of shampoo left in the shower, which she quickly took.

The water in the stream was _ice cold_ , but at least she was now clean, the girl having to make sure her friend wouldn’t stumble up on her. The stream flowed at a rapid pace, making it easier to get rid of the sewage she’d been covered in. Once she was satisfied and not covered in filth anymore, she retreated from the stream, drying off using a towel that’d been left behind in the bathroom before getting dressed in the clothes she’d found. Her hair was past her shoulders, the girl too lazy to put it back up in the pony tail, for now.

With the cool breeze, the hoodie was super comfortable, although she still shivered a bit from being in the ice-cold water. Once she was fully dry, though, that feeling would hopefully subside. She approached the house, her arms over her chest, to conserve warmth, before entering, going about searching once more. Ellie found herself drawn to the garage of the house, looking towards a dart board that was hung on the far wall. She’d never played darts before, but it _looked_ like it could be fun. _Wonder if Clementine’s played?_

“ _Dinner’s ready!_ ”

Clementine’s voice echoed through the house, loud enough to pull Ellie out of her reverie. She left the garage to join the girl in the kitchen, who was in the middle of putting the eggs on a couple of plates she’d found. The smell was enticing, especially to her stomach, and Ellie couldn’t help but pick up the pace to the table. “Damn, that smells good,” she instinctively licked her lips, desperate to get any sort of food in her system before she passed out from starvation. She’d probably eat _anything_ at this point.

“Eat up. I tried my best, but it’s still just, y’know… eggs, so…” Clementine stated in an even tone, her hands on her hips, before she eagerly picked up one of the plates resting on the table, sitting by the corner next to Ellie. Ellie took a cautious bite out of the first egg, before devouring the rest of it, and the other eggs. Had she not been so hungry, she probably wouldn’t have liked the consistency they had, but it was enough to keep them going, hopefully. As she finished the last egg, Clementine asked a question, muffled slightly by her chewing.

“Ssho… did you take a bath or something?”

“What? Oh… right, uh…” Ellie trailed off for a second, trying to gather her thoughts. Her stomach rumbled slightly, still craving more, although there wasn’t anything left to have. “I went through those clothes upstairs, and… you won’t believe this, but… found soap and shampoo, too. Went down to the stream and cleaned up. I left it all next to some clothes for you, in the living room,” she hooked her thumb back towards the living room, where she’d moved the pile of clothes to earlier. “Since you were busy with the eggs and everything, I figured I’d go first.”

Clementine had a ridiculous smile on her face, obviously just as excited as she had been to know that there was _actual_ shower supplies in this place. The only word to escape her mouth for a moment was a breathless “oh…”, which the girl quickly followed up by standing up from the chair in one swift motion. “Do you mind keeping a lookout while I… uhm, you know.” She began to walk towards the living room before Ellie could even respond, already at the kitchen door within seconds, before looking back at Ellie one last time, her hand resting against the doorway. “Thanks,” she quietly added before disappearing.

“Yeah, no problem,” Ellie quietly replied to the girl once she was gone. She didn’t blame her, the prospect of being _clean_ was one that was all too enticing. Who knew that _not_ smelling like shit would be the best feeling they’d have today? As the back door closed with a soft click, Ellie decided to continue checking out the rest of the house, searching the rooms they haven’t touched yet. She stayed away from the windows, giving the girl outside her privacy.

As she slowly ascended the steps to the second floor, Ellie’s thoughts focused on Clementine for a bit longer than she would’ve expected. It was nice to have her around, to have a friend around. That was something she missed, a _lot_ , from when Riley was… still alive. Things were more confusing then, and Ellie still wasn’t really sure what to make of it all… that entire night they spent together in the mall, but… a small part of her, a nagging voice in the back of her head, kept repeating warnings to her in bright, bold text. _Don’t get attached. Everyone you’ve cared about… they’ve all either died, or left you. Don’t let that happen again._ The voice was hard to ignore, but she tried her best to do so. She’d only known Clementine for… what? A day? And yet… her presence made her feel a bit… happier? Someone her age that she could hang out with, someone who understood her, to a degree. She didn’t have that with Joel.

She’d like to think that he wanted to stick around, after they met up with the Fireflies, but it was hard to gauge what the man really felt. Maybe he’d leave the instant they found the Fireflies, his job fulfilled. She was surprised by how much that thought physically pained her. Maybe she’d grown to like both Joel and Clementine _too much_. She couldn’t help it, that feeling of loneliness plagued her more times than she could count. She didn’t want to end up alone, couldn’t bear it. After Riley, she had Marlene, and after Marlene… Joel. What happened if Joel left? Clementine and Lee? What would happen if she ended up alone in the end? Every question continued to further her in her downward spiral, until Ellie finally managed to shake them away.

She couldn’t worry about what-ifs, not right now. Things were already fucked up as it was, without adding that sense of anxiety to the mix. She could make sure she didn’t end up alone again without pushing people away, that much she was sure of. _Hopefully._

She found herself standing near the doorway to what must’ve been the master bedroom, the door still closed shut. The upstairs had barely been explored, besides the room where they’d found the clothes, so that meant that there was still a lot more to search. She slowly opened the door, the wood creaking eerily along its hinges before revealing the interior of the room. The smell hit her first, although it seemed much more faded than other scenes she’d come across similar to this. On the bed lied two bodies, rotted away, mostly just bones left behind. Ellie grimaced at the sight, clenching her eyes shut for a couple of seconds before forcing them open again.

Her eyes were drawn to the bigger figure’s bony hand, a pistol clutched in his grip. It looked similar to the one she carried around, which had her crossing the room in a hurry. Maybe she’d find more ammunition for her gun, something she so desperately needed. She grabbed the weapon, pulling it out of the man’s grip, before slipping the magazine out. Two bullets. _Damn_. She dumped the bullets into her hand, slipping them into her back pocket. She’d load them into her pistol later.

_“Ellie?”_

Before she could continue inspecting the room, Clementine’s voice emanated from downstairs, the girl presumably done with bathing in the stream. Ellie returned to the door, preparing herself to head downstairs. _Hope she put on clothes first, or this’ll be pretty freakin’ awkward._ She headed downstairs two steps at a time, glancing towards the girl as she entered the living room. “Found some more ammo upstairs,” she called as she reached the bottom. “Not much, but it’s something. Feel better?” She half-chuckled, realizing that the girl looked much more… well, she didn’t really have a word in mind, besides cleaner. Her hair was still a bit wet, the faint light of the candles Clementine had lit with the fire she’d made reflecting off the girl’s brown hair, making it seem as if the hair itself had a clean sheen. With another awkward chuckle, she decided to add one more thing in an amused tone. “You don’t look so bad when you’re not covered in shit.”

She immediately regretted that joke, grimacing slightly, but made no effort in correcting herself, hoping that the girl wouldn’t take that the wrong way.

_Way to fucking go, Ellie._

Clementine raised an eyebrow, which was more than enough for Ellie to feel her cheeks flushing. _Too late to take it back, now. Damn it._ “I…” the girl stuttered, stifling a laugh. “Thanks…?” Ellie couldn’t find anything to say to the girl’s ‘thanks’, rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly as the girl ran her hand through her hair, seemingly lost in thought for a moment, before opening her mouth again. “Hey, do you… want to spend the night here?” She asked Ellie with one armed crossed, averting her gaze for a second. “I thought about this a lot. Maybe we don’t have to go _right now_ … maybe we could stay for a bit.”

She found herself surprised to hear Clementine ask that. She’d expected her to want to keep going, but maybe she knew the risks just as much as Ellie did. Going out meant having to deal with the infected, and that was the last thing Ellie wanted right now.

“Yeah, uh,” Ellie stuttered, letting out another half-chuckle. “That’s probably… for the best. Infected are out at night. Would be safer if we stayed here, anyway.” _Besides, we’re still a good couple hours walk away from that tower, and I’m exhausted._ “So… you’ll get no arguments from me,” she finished, putting on a smile. The thought of sleeping on an _actual_ bed was more than enough to have her dead-set on staying the night there. When will they get another chance like this again? On the road, there wasn’t much of a choice beyond sleeping wherever you ended up. A forest floor, a gas station bathroom… just, well… wherever. Sleeping in a bed was about as luxurious as it got.

“We’ll be on the road as soon as we can,” Clementine assured, a small smile on her face.

“Yeah… and hey,” Ellie continued, hooking a thumb over her shoulder, pointing towards the garage door behind her. “If we get bored, there’s a dart board in the garage. It’s no truth or truth, but… y’know.”

For a moment, Clementine seemed confused, tilting her head to the side a little. “Dart board? What’s what?”

Ellie wasn’t really surprised that Clementine hadn’t heard of darts, after everything she’d learned about the girl. Growing up outside the quarantine zones, there wasn’t much chance she’d learn about things like that unless her parents had one, which they hadn’t, apparently. “Oh, uh, it’s a game. You throw little… dart… _things_ at this board on the wall, and it scores you based on how close you get to the target in the middle. I’ve seen them a few times back in Boston, but I haven’t… played before - but, I’ve seen others play. Wouldn’t hurt to give it a try, right?” She had a sheepish smile on her face, thinking back to Clementine’s game from earlier that day. They never really _finished_ it, which meant there was no real victor. Maybe… just maybe, she could beat the girl at darts.

“Uh huh,” Clementine replied with a nod, though she appeared to still be as confused as she was when Ellie suggested the idea. “Sure, why not,” she shrugged, grabbing her baseball cap from the living room and slipping it on.

She followed Ellie to the garage, the girl's eyes immediately drawn to the dart board on the far wall. Ellie watched as she picked up one of the darts from the floor, staring at it in what could be best described as puzzlement. The girl then directed her gaze towards Ellie.

“Will you teach me?”

"Right, uh, yeah," Ellie replied, taking one of the darts from the metal table they'd been resting on not too far away from the dart board. Someone had painted a white line on the ground, presumably for making sure no one got too close to the board, and Ellie stood at the line. "So, yeah, you take the dart, and you try and hit the 'bullseye' in the center of the board. The little black circle there, see it?" She pointed towards the board, before preparing herself to try and toss one of the darts. "Closer you get, the more points you get." Her muscles tensed, and she had the dart ready to fly, taking in a deep breath, before letting it barrel towards the board. It landed about halfway between the bullseye and the edge of the board. _Not bad._ "Like that," she continued, although not _that_ proud of her throw. For her first time, though, it wasn't so bad. "Alright, your turn, Baseball Cap."

“Okay…” Clementine complied, timidly walking up to the white line.

She held the barrel of the dart with her thumb, forefinger and middle finger, raising it to eye level to align its tip to her target. The girl then pulled her hand back ever so slightly before sending the dart flying straight onward. It landed right next to Ellie's, just a tad closer to the center of the board. ''I got it!'' She exclaimed in content, her tender smile warping into a wicked one, lightly nudging Ellie on the shoulder. “Looks like your friends in Boston must've really sucked at darts.”

Ellie rolled her eyes, pretending to be annoyed by Clementine's shot, although she couldn't mask the smile on her face. “Just beginner's luck,” she taunted. _Two can play that game._ “Alright, bullseye, here I come,” she got into position, aiming the dart as if it was as important as making a shot on a guy from across the city. Besides the fact it was _really_ both their first times, she didn't want to be shown up by the girl that spent her entire life outside walls. She let the dart loose, cursing as it landed farther away from the center. " _Damn it._ " She took a step back, grabbing another dart from the pile, before handing it to Clementine. "Alright, Clem. Your turn." _Please miss, so I feel less bad about myself._

The girl playfully adjusted her hat, making Ellie roll her eyes at the confidence Clementine was giving off in droves. The girl once again held a tight grip on the dart, keeping her dominant foot forward. After carefully aiming at her target, she used the weight and momentum of her wrist to send the dart soaring forward, her smile widening as it landed inches away from the bullseye. “Yes! Did you see that?” She shouted with joy, followed by a chuckle. “This is way easier than it looks like.” Clementine told Ellie enthusiastically, looking towards her with bright eyes. “Here,” she handed Ellie the next dart. “Don't put too much force into it, just use your wrist. Like this!” Clementine tried to explain through a variety of, frankly, complex and totally bewildering motions. It was clear to Ellie that she didn't really have an actual functioning technique... she'd simply gotten lucky.

Although the urge to make an annoyed comment towards Clementine rose in her chest, she tried her best to keep her lips sealed. Clementine had gotten lucky, twice, and was absolutely showing her up, but she didn't want to ruin the moment by being a sore loser. The girl was trying to help, at least, maybe that made her a better friend than her. Maybe. Letting out a half-sigh, she listened to what Clementine was telling her, maybe out of some misguided hope that whatever she was saying would help her. She didn't want to make a _complete_ fool of herself. Finally, she pulled back her hand, before throwing it, silently willing it to land on the bullseye. Instead, it landed between where Clementine's two throws landed, but close enough to get her some solid points. Ellie grinned, before triumphantly cheering, "boosh!" She glanced towards the girl next to her, the smile still on her face. "Not bad, Clem, not bad. Maybe you were a dart player in a past life, or something."

“You’re not so bad yourself, stupid.” Clementine said with a grin, waving off the compliment. Ellie raised a fist towards Clementine, intending to fistbump the girl, who looked back at her with a confused look. After a moment she raised her own fist, her confusion growing more and more apparent as the seconds passed by.

Ellie rolled her eyes, letting out a soft snort, before bumping her fist against Clementine's. "It's a fistbump, Clem." Her smile faded slightly, a twinge of guilt in the pit of her stomach. "Sorry, uh... I keep forgetting you didn't grow up in a QZ. It's like... a handshake, but cooler."

 _And a bit more awkward when... you know, she doesn't know what the hell you're doing_ _…_

"But, uh... yeah..." she continued, trying to disperse the awkward tension in the air. Probably not doing a good job at it, but at least she was trying, right? "Stupid, huh? Kinda hard to take a compliment seriously when you follow it up with that." She had a half-smirk on her face as the words escaped her lips, a small chuckle escaping along with it. "Baseball Cap, and Stupid? Great names. Easy to remember."

Clementine broke into laughter herself, smiling sheepishly before giving Ellie’s shoulder another nudge. “You're the _stupidest_ …” The girl playfully said before looking away, already looking like she was lost in thought. Ellie rubbed her shoulder instinctively, rolling her eyes at her comment. “So, ready to give up yet?’’ Clementine asked with one arm crossed.

Ellie's smirk grew. No way was she letting her _destroy_ her at darts. "One more throw," she replied in an equally playful voice, before grabbing another dart from the table.  
_Alright, just like she told you._

She threw the dart, already expecting to miss like most of her other tries. The dart flew through the air, before landing directly in the center of the board, right on the bullseye. Ellie let out a triumphant cheer, "fuck yes!"

Clem's eyes widened the moment Ellie's dart came in contact with the bullseye. ''Oh shit.'' She uttered with a smile, seeming as much in awe as Ellie felt.

As much as Ellie wanted to rub that one in Clementine's face, she decided against it, glancing back towards the girl. "Alright, Baseball Cap, I think you win. At least I was on the board, though," she laughed, walking over to the board and pulling the darts out, before laying them on the metal table. Her gaze fell on Clementine along the way, noticing just how tired she looked. They probably both looked that way, really.

_It was a good idea to stay here. No way we could've made it to the radio tower tonight…_

“No way, you were awesome!” Ellie had a dumb smile on her face as Clementine complimented her once again, scratching the back of her neck awkwardly. Clementine stretched both her arms, letting out a soft yawn before rubbing her eyes in an exhausted motion. “I think I'm all drained for the night…” She admitted, sounding more let down than anything. It didn't take a genius to figure out the girl was absolutely pooped, even before she mentioned it, and in contrast to her first statement, what followed sounded a lot quieter and timid, the girl's arms swinging back and forth as though trying to act all nonchalant about it. “I know we're _pretty much_ stuck together, but... thanks for, you know, hanging out with me. That was really cool of you.” Her statement had caught Ellie by surprise, although she wasn't really sure why. Part of it was due to the fact that not twenty-four hours ago, this girl had hardly said two words to her, and tried to kill her. They've come a long way since then. As she was about to answer, Clementine changed the subject. “So, uh…” she opened up with, “...there's a room upstairs, right?” Ellie nodded, clearing her throat.

"Uh, yeah, that girl's room. The one we climbed out the window of. The other one is... uh... _occupied_ ," she mumbled the last word. She was sure Clementine was going to ask questions, so she simply continued, answering them before it could be asked. "People who owned the place, I think. They're dead. But... yeah, you can take the bed upstairs, and I'll take the couch down here, cool?" _Hope that couch is comfy. Please let it be comfy._ As much as she'd love to sleep in a real bed, Clementine probably deserved it more than anything. "Besides, you won the game, about the only reward I can think of," she continued nervously, chuckling.

Clem furrowed her brows. “You sure?” She asked. “We could share. I don’t mind. If it’s too small, we’ll just… figure something out.” She added with a shrug and an eye roll. “C’mon, I’m not letting you sleep on the _couch_. It’s all old and… murky.” Sighing, Clementine took a second before she spoke up again. “Plus, you hit the bullseye, right?” The girl shrugged again with a confident smile. “We’ll call it a tie.”

“Oh, uh…” The offer caught Ellie off guard, her eyes widening for a fraction of a second. The thought of sleeping on a bed with someone else was a strange one, almost alien. Even when she was at the orphanage - military school was probably the more apt term for it - she’d sleep alone, even when Riley was around. She vaguely remembered hearing about ‘sleepovers’ once, a long time ago. Apparently girls used to have them, before the apocalypse. She never really understood the concept. What was so special about staying in the same house, and sleeping in the same bed as someone else? Wouldn’t that just leave room for her to accidentally wake Clementine up in the middle of the night? If she had to roll over, or… something? She wanted to argue against it, do anything to get out of it, but found herself unable to formulate the words she needed to say. Finally, after what felt like an agonizing amount of time, but probably had _only been_ a few seconds, she managed to find her voice again.

“Uh… yeah, I - I guess we could do that. Thanks.” She tried to put a smile on her face, although she felt more nervous than anything. She wasn’t sure whether it was because of Clementine, or sharing a bed with… well, _anyone_. Maybe she was just over-thinking it, which was… probably the case, but she couldn’t escape that feeling in the pit of her gut. She let out a nervous laugh, before continuing. “Alright, uh, I’ll throw our stuff up there, then. We’ll call it a ‘sleepover’.” She used the word as a joke, emphasizing it, before heading towards the door leading inside. Once she was out the door, she took in a deep breath before stopping, glancing back at the girl. “It’s no problem, by the way, hanging out with you. Any time you want.” She flashed a small smile before retreating into the house, hoping to put some distance between her and the girl for just a little bit, just to calm herself down. _Jesus, Ellie, this isn’t the scariest thing you’ve ever done. Pull yourself together._

Inside the house, the temperature was steadily increasing, and she blew out the candles on her way to grab their bags and take them upstairs. Her jacket felt like an oven suddenly, and a layer of sweat formed on her skin. She thought about just taking the thing off, but… she didn’t have a long-sleeve shirt on anymore, to cover up the bite. If she took it off to try and sleep, Clem would notice the bite, guaranteed. _Just cross that bridge when you get to it, okay?_

She carried their backpacks upstairs, depositing Clementine’s next to the bed in the room, before slipping hers onto her back. The bed wasn’t too large, but appeared to be - hopefully - large enough for the two of them to sleep comfortably. She took one of the candles from the room, setting the wick on fire with her lighter, before strolling into the bathroom down the hallway.

Once inside, she closed the door behind her, setting the candle down on the sink counter before shrugging off her backpack and jacket. Her eyes fell to the bite immediately, looking over it with a hint of concern. After being covered in sewage water, the thought of some of that getting into the bite was enough to justify that concern.

It looked okay, at least, looking as old as it was, though it’ll probably never heal. Like dead skin that won’t go away, except that this skin _wasn’t_ dead. A permanent scar on her arm. She wondered if Clementine had anything like that, any scars she’d gained over the years. Probably a few, but nothing on _this_ scale. Nothing compared to being the key to finding a cure. It was something that weighed down on her shoulders like hundred bricks, only getting heavier with each passing day, and seeing the bite again did nothing but increase that anxiety. Taking in a deep breath, she took the bottle of vodka from her bag, twisting off the cap. For a moment, she found herself looking down at the bottle, weighing it in her hand.

… _Screw it._

She took a quick gulp, cringing as the liquid flowed down her throat, leaving a burning sensation behind. She burst into a fit of coughs, trying her best to contain them, as to not alarm Clementine. The last thing she wanted to do was explain her bite when it was out in the open. _Yep, I definitely regret that._ The thought crossed her mind as she managed to get herself under control, wrapping her fingers around the bottle once more before gently pouring it onto the bite. She winced as pain jolted up her arm. Although it wasn’t brand new, the bite still hurt to clean, and she’d found herself needing to clean it every once in a while, especially now. She may have cleaned up in the stream earlier, but this was the only sure-fire way of making sure it didn’t get infected. _Infected, hah. Nice one._

Once she was finished, she dabbed the alcohol on her arm with one of the shirts she ripped up, drying it to clean it up the best she could. The smell was vile, much worse than rubbing alcohol, and she found herself drying her arm meticulously to get rid of it. The last thing she wanted to do was explain _that_ to the girl. Finally, satisfied with her work, she put everything back into her backpack. She survived the bite, now she just had to survive a sleepover.

_Somehow._

* * *

 

It was odd, almost _disconcerting_ , the way Ellie had reacted to her offer. Not just how nervous she was, which frankly would’ve been worrisome on its own, but the way she frantically took off right after Clem offered to share the bed with her. As Ellie climbed the steps leading upstairs, Clementine squinted her eyes in a manner hardly noticeable, knowing without a doubt in her mind that something was _off_ with her. It struck her abruptly, like a cold knife being thrust through her temple. _Is it weird for her…?_ It had to be, right? Ellie was nervous about sleeping with another girl. Clementine nearly scoffed, thinking of how silly Ellie had to be to get agitated by something so childish. Funny… all that time earlier, in the question game, trying to figure out what got under Ellie’s skin, only to find out _this_ made her uncomfortable? It had to be a joke. She’d understand if it was a boy asking to share a bed, but her? _We’re both girls…_ She begrudgingly thought with an eye roll, deciding to give Ellie the space she _apparently_ needed.

Seeing as Ellie was busy with _whatever_ upstairs, Clementine took the time to prepare for bed downstairs. The one thing she missed every night were her old pajamas from way back at the farm. Nothing eased her into sleep like the soft feeling of silk on her skin… well, except for Mom’s bedtime stories, but that one the girl preferred to keep to herself. _Okay, alright. Find a twig that doesn’t suck._ She still remembered it like it was yesterday, when Jane taught her how to keep her teeth clean when things were at their absolute worst.

“ _Before there were toothbrushes, Clem, most people used twigs from oak trees to brush their teeth.”_

Getting used to it wasn’t fun, at all, but she learned to enjoy it. Kinda. Clementine picked a younger-looking branch near the woods’ pathway, going for the one with the thinner skin. The girl then peeled it off, chewing on one end of the stick to turn that end into a little brush before sticking it into her mouth. _Wonder if Ellie has a toothpick. Maybe I should’ve asked…_ Once she was done brushing her teeth, she washed her face in the stream, taking the time to enjoy the chilly water before getting back inside the house.

On her way upstairs, she heard the bathroom door being shut rather quietly, which could only mean it was Ellie. _Either that or walkers are becoming more hygienic._ It struck Clementine, _again_ , this time more like a truck violently running over her head. _Wait, bathroom…?_ The girl thought about it for a few seconds, trying to figure out what— _Oh._

Womanly issues. If she was… well… she wouldn’t want to… with someone else. _I get it._ Clementine scratched her nose uncomfortably, nodding to herself as she walked to the girl’s bedroom. There wasn’t much left to do except for wait for the other girl, so she lied down on the bed, planning the trip for tomorrow. Eventually that train of thought led to thinking about food, and in the short span of ten seconds, Clementine was left hungrier than ever. _Maybe hunting tomorrow would be good…_ The girl’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of coughing coming from the bathroom, nudging her head over to the source of the noise.

_Ellie?_

Something was definitely off, this time for sure, and whatever it was, she couldn’t just lie down and ignore it. Clementine slowly made her way down the hallway, knocking twice on the bathroom door before anything else.

“Are you okay?” She asked with a touch of skepticism, now just altogether uncertain of what was going on with Ellie. _Fuck. Please say something…_

Ellie said something so quietly that she could barely hear it, and couldn’t at all understand it. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she finally called back, opening up the door. “Had a cut on my leg I needed to tend to, from when we fell down that sewer pipe. Used some of that vodka to make sure it’s actually clean, and all. Stuff smells _horrible_. Managed to spill it all over my arm too,” she sighed. “Clumsy, I know,” she finished with a small chuckle.

Clementine raised an eyebrow, a hand on her hip, trying to place exactly what part of Ellie’s explanation bugged her so much. Was it the fact that she hadn’t mentioned any leg wounds until right then, after _hours_ of walking? Or just how determined she was to hide it, going as far as shutting herself in the bathroom to clean it up? It didn’t make any sense. She had no choice but to assume one of two things: either Ellie was hiding something, or the cut on her leg was _fucking serious_ , enough so to keep it from her. Whatever the case, there was only one way to find out for sure. The girl extended her hand, giving Ellie a serious look to illustrate that she meant business. “Let me see,” she asked, damn near demanded. “Your cut,” she clarified with a frown. “I can help you patch it up, I’ve done it before…”

“Clem, I…” The words died in Ellie’s throat, and Clementine’s eyes squinted even further. “I - I already cleaned it, so… that’s not really… necessary.” Clementine didn’t move, keeping her hand raised. She was going to see what this was all about, one way or another. “ _Really_ ,” Ellie emphasized, sighing. “It’s fine. I’m okay. Alright?” She fell silent for a moment, clenching her eyes shut, and cursing under her breath, then sighed. Finally, she managed to make eye contact with Clementine, her soft green eyes one of fear and guilt. Clementine awaited for what was to come expectantly, only just now letting her hand fall to her side as the girl began to speak once more. “Clem, just… hear me out, okay?” Ellie started, obviously struggling to keep her voice steady as the words came out. “Just… trust me, please?” Clementine didn’t have a chance to respond, even if she wasn’t intending to. Instead, the girl continued, her tone seeping with regret. “I don’t have a cut on my leg. I was cleaning this…” She rolled up her jacket sleeve, and Clementine’s eyes widened as it came into view. Her heart raced at a tremendous speed. She breathed in and out, yet no air seemed to enter her lungs. Her mind was sent reeling, unable to comprehend or process the sight in front of her. Her eyes were wide open, hands shaking in terror, cold sweat glistening as it ran down her face.

 _Ellie’s… Ellie’s bit._ Clementine took two faltering steps back, horrified, shaking her head in denial. She couldn’t have ever expected it… expected Ellie to _lie_ to her about something so fucking important. She couldn’t say a word, shocked, confused, angry… and scared, most of all.

“Clem, don’t freak out, okay? Please? This bite, it’s a  _month_  old. Normally, you turn within two days. I’m… immune,” Ellie finished, her voice becoming feeble and weak. That claim left a sour taste in Clementine’s mouth, the entire thing sounding… to her, like an act of desperation, akin to trying to clean a bite like it was some sort of cold that just _went away_. She’d seen it happen dozens of times, no shortage of them happening to people she really cared about. The mere concept of _immunity_ was almost beyond far-fetched, idiotic for anyone who had survived for this long.

“Ellie…” Clementine uttered in terror, incapable of finding the strength to say anything else. After all, there was no strength left. No strength to feel any sort of resentment towards her, not any kind of emotion except absolute misery… the misery that came from knowing she’d have to watch Ellie die. Her expression slightly softened, as did the shock that came with the discovery. The silence that followed was brutal, almost unbearable. Clementine had to say something… she had to. “We can still…” she choked, barely able to speak, much less form a sentence. “…stick together… for as long as you have left.” She forced a smile, trying, as hard as she possibly could, to give Ellie some kind of comfort in what she could only imagine were her final moments with her.

Ellie’s face fell further, and she swiftly reached out for Clementine, grabbing her by her arms, hands clenched around her biceps. A quiet sound left Clementine’s lips as she was pulled closer to Ellie, feeling for the first time the absolute intensity being presented through the girl’s eyes. “I’m not lying to you, Clementine. I’m - _fuck_ \- I don’t know _**how**_ , but I am immune. That’s how I met Joel, he snuck me out of Boston, and he’s taking me to the Fireflies. They’re looking for the cure, Clem. Our only shot at getting it from me. That’s why we need to find them. Okay? I’m not dying, Clementine. Not today. You have to believe that, please.” Ellie sounded like she was practically begging now, her voice much stronger than it’d been when she first admitted that she’d been bitten. She sounded like she didn’t have a doubt in her mind, and Clementine couldn’t stop herself from the thought that passed through her brain, grief-stricken. _How can you say that…?_ Ellie let out a heavy sigh before letting go of Clementine, taking a step back. Nothing Ellie was saying made any sense… none of it. So… why…?

Why did Clementine believe in her?

It was stupid, it was naive and it was totally fucking insane. Yet, for what felt like a lack of any rhyme or reason, Clem couldn’t possibly bring herself to dismiss what Ellie begged her to believe in, no matter how impossible it all sounded. As Ellie pulled away, Clementine felt her own expression darken along with hers, realizing that what she meant to say next was bound to be painful. “I was with Riley when it happened, we… she was leaving Boston, to join the Fireflies at one of their hideouts. I… I told her to stay, and she did. She left the Fireflies for me. Now… I wish I didn’t ask, because maybe-” her voice choked, her gaze averting from Clementine. “Maybe she’d still be alive today.” There was a brief lull, the girl in front of her taking in a deep breath. “We were hanging out in this… abandoned mall. Infected took us by surprise. I fought off one of them that tackled her, and it bit me in the process. And it had already gotten _her_.” Her eyes returned to Clementine, tears welling in her eyes. “We decided to just… wait out it… lose our minds together. All poetic and… s - shit. I watched her turn. Had to put her down. My turn never came.” She took another step back, her voice barely a whisper as she added one final thing. “ _I - I loved her, and I had to kill her._ ”

It all traced back to Riley… somehow, it always seemed to. Whatever it was that Ellie felt for the girl must’ve been… unworldly. It came as no surprise to hear about Riley’s passing, something Clementine had been long alluded to assume on her own, but even so, inadvertently forcing Ellie to describe the entire thing hurt her unimaginably. _I’m so sorry…_ She, once again, found herself without the strength to speak, for similar yet somehow drastically different reasons. Her lower lip quivered as she sought the right way to approach the girl, wishing only that she could somehow lessen her suffering.

“I… I believe you, Ellie,” Clementine quietly said, trying not to look away even whilst faced by her sorrowful gaze. It was crazy, but she wanted to believe in her. Clem wanted to believe in her friend…

* * *

 

“ _I… I believe you, Ellie._ ” Hearing those words was enough to bring back emotions Ellie hadn’t felt in a long time, dating back to that fateful night with Riley. She instinctively leaned forward, intending to get closer to Clementine, to comfort her somehow, but forced herself to stay in place. Her vision went blurry with tears, and she wiped them away with the sleeve of her jacket, sniffling as she did so. She didn’t know how to feel, or which emotions she should convey, if any. They mixed together into one chaotic soup, bubbling to the surface. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what to do. For a moment, she just… stood there, trying to reorganize her brain, to say something coherent to the girl that was starting to mean more to her with every passing second, but nothing came.

Finally, she opened her mouth, her breath hitching, before her voice finally managed to break through. “I’m sorry…” the words were weak, probably too quiet for the girl in front of her to even hear. Everything about this confession had gone wrong. She didn’t want to hurt Clementine, especially not after the day they’ve had together. Yesterday, if someone would tell her that she’d be feeling this way, or even manage to get a single word out of Clementine, she wouldn’t believe them. Now…? She didn’t really know. They’ve both gone through so much, Clementine having experienced so much more than Ellie could possibly imagine. She’s probably seen this situation a hundred times, all without a promise. All without any reason for hope. She didn’t want her to be the next case of heartbreak, a person could only handle so much. She took in a deep breath, finally matching Clementine’s gaze. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. Joel told me to not tell anyone else, and before today… I didn’t know if I could trust you and Lee. I do now. I fucked up, and… _shit_ , I’m sorry, Clementine.” It wasn’t nearly the apology the girl deserved, but as much as she could get out with how much her body was shaking, and how much her heart hurt, and how much she felt like a _shitty fucking friend_. Maybe she was. Maybe Clem would’ve been better off without her. Maybe Riley would’ve, too. All she knew was that she wasn’t going to let Clementine become the next Riley. The next one on the list to die in her wake. Another name lost to this _horrible fucking world_. When they reached the Fireflies, the cure would make sure it never happened again. That was the only promise she could make.

It all happened within a span of a half second, Clementine placing her hands on Ellie’s shoulders, her eyes swollen from holding back tears of her own. “No, y - you… you didn’t fuck up, okay? You didn’t.” The girl said as her hands began to envelop Ellie further, pulling her closer until she was fully within the girl’s embrace. “So, quit crying… alright?” Ellie felt her lungs decompress, taken aback for a moment that the girl was _hugging_ her. She expected Clem to yell at her, tell her that she should’ve told her, and that she didn’t forgive her. That’s what she imagined her to say, if this was yesterday. Today, the girl didn’t seem to hesitate to forgive her. Did she even deserve forgiveness? For lying to her this entire time? For getting Riley killed? For driving this wedge in their friendship? Granted, they’ve only known each other for a day, but there were a dozen moments where she could’ve told her today, and she didn’t. After a second passed, she hugged Clementine back, sniffling quietly.

The two broke apart, Ellie taking a moment to wipe the tears away from her eyes and _somehow_ get her emotions back under control. Being so tired and hungry and emotionally drained had taken its toll, and her entire body felt almost numb, as if she’d pass out at any moment. Clementine’s words rang in her ears on repeat, a small smile appearing on her face as she heard them over and over. She let out a weak chuckle, her voice still shaky despite how warm and fuzzy she was starting to feel inside. “You’re a good friend, Clementine. You know that?” Her eyes averted to the backpack she’d left sitting in the sink behind her, the bottle of vodka poking out the side, having been hastily placed in there before. It’d left a bad aftertaste in her mouth, that one sip being enough to leave an imprint on her mind. Had she known alcohol tasted so _shitty_ , she wouldn’t have touched it to begin with.

“Thanks, Ellie,” Clementine replied, forcing Ellie to look back towards her for a moment. She had a smile on her face, and Ellie couldn’t help but return it.

Sighing, Ellie slipped the bottle all the way into her backpack, before zipping the bag up. Taking the bag, and slipping it over her shoulders, she returned her gaze to Clementine, a thought that’d been in the back of her head bubbling to the surface. “So, uh… if you want me to sleep on the couch now, I’d _totally_ understand,” she awkwardly laughed, rubbing the back of her neck.

After admitting to being bitten, she wasn’t sure if Clementine would want to _test_ her immunity out, no matter how much Ellie insisted on her being fine. Not that she’d blame her. Then there was her story about Riley, which… heavily hinted at how much the girl had meant to her. She wasn’t sure how Clementine would feel about that, if she even picked up on it. Boys like girls, and girls like boys, so what did that make her? The odd one out? There was a reason she hadn’t told anyone about that incident yet, including Joel, because she wasn’t sure whether her feelings were _normal_ or not. She grew up on those stories about princes and princesses, things she’d found ridiculous. Royalty, true love, stupid things like that, stuff that didn’t exist anymore, or she wasn’t sure if she even believed in. It never appealed to her, living that kind of life. Maybe it was the old-fashioned nature of it, she didn’t really know. As much as the old world fascinated her, some aspects of it still didn’t make any sense. With Riley, none of that mattered. They did their own thing, made their own story. Who cared if she was another girl? Given the way she hid it from the world, probably her.

Instead, Clementine let out a soft chuckle. “No fucking way. I said we’re sharing the bed. Don’t argue.” She said with a smirk as she made her way down the hallway, stopping a few inches away from the girl’s room, turning back towards where Ellie stood in the bathroom doorway. “C’mon, stupid.”

Ellie rolled her eyes, taking in a deep breath, before following the girl. “Guess those nicknames are going to stick, huh, Baseball Cap?”

Once they were in the room, Ellie shut the door behind her, stretching her muscles as fatigue took over. It’d been a long fucking day, and she could hardly remember the last time she actually slept. Back on the roof of that Starbucks, right? Felt like forever since they were there, only compounding how tired she felt. As Clementine laid in the bed, Ellie hesitated for a moment, considering whether or not to leave on the jacket. _No point, she already knows about the bite._ With a sigh, she shrugged the jacket off, hanging it on the doorknob. She focused on the bite for a moment, the act of showing it almost alien to her. If it wasn’t so warm, she’d consider just sleeping with the jacket on. Nevertheless, she shook that feeling away, laying in the bed before staring up at the ceiling. It still remained an off-white color, despite the years of neglect this place had been through.

She imagined the girl this room belonged to, laying here looking up at that same roof, a completely different set of thoughts and emotions running through that girl’s head. What was her life like? What drove her? Boys? School? A life like that, nothing much to worry about, nothing that _mattered_ , anyway. Nights like this might’ve been more common back then; darts, truth or dare but it’s only truth, things that normally wouldn’t find its way into their lives these days. She wished they weren’t so rare, but that didn’t make experiencing them any less special. She couldn’t remember a time she’d been so happy and sad at the same time, except for… well, when Riley died. Maybe that wasn’t a good thing, but at least _one_ had a happy-ish ending, right? No one dies, not this time. Her and Clem, Joel and Lee, they’ll make it to the Fireflies, together. Once they found the two guys again. Tomorrow, hopefully.

Tonight, though, having a bed to sleep in and a friend to share it with wasn’t so bad. Less scary than she thought it’d be, although having her so close was almost… anxiety-inducing. They were separated, each sleeping on opposite sides of the bed, but her presence still made itself known, despite Ellie having rolled over onto her side, facing away from the girl. Was this… nervousness? Or simply frayed nerves? Probably a mixture of both. For a while, she simply breathed in and out in a rhythmic fashion, taking in the room around them with half-open eyes. The quiet was peaceful compared to the shitstorm that took place in the bathroom, the only sound being that of their breathing and the whistling sound of the wind battering the house outside. It was enough to calm her nerves, and before she knew it, her eyes had shut completely.

 


	8. The Lie

Ellie stirred from her slumber, a soft exhale escaping her lips as she opened her eyes. The room around her was pitch black, leaving her squinting just to make out shapes in the darkness. While she was sleeping, she had rolled over towards Clementine, it seemed, as the girl’s back filled her vision. For a moment, she struggled to figure out the reason why she woke up in the first place, something having disturbed her from her sleep. She thought she heard the creak of a door opening downstairs, leading to her straining her ears for any other sound.

Footsteps quiet, but they were there. Something was in the house, or someone.

That revelation was more than enough to jolt her awake, like an electric shock. She rolled out of the bed, landing with her hands catching her from colliding with the floor, before she pushed herself to her feet, taking several steps towards her jacket, where her gun was still hanging out of one of the front pockets. Grabbing it, she retraced her steps to the bed, sitting on the edge before nudging Clementine several times.

“Clem, wake up, c’mon. Clem!” Her voice was a quiet hiss, the sense of fear flooding her system like a lethal injection. If whoever was in the house was the bandits from Pittsburgh, she needed Clementine awake to help her. Depending on how many were in the house, even the two of them probably couldn’t handle them, and they’d have to escape through the window. Hopefully, though, it wouldn’t come to that.

Clementine rolled over, rubbing her eyes. “Wha--? What, Ellie? What is it?” She asked, a hint of hostility in her voice despite how feeble it sounded.

“There’s someone downstairs,” Ellie replied quickly, gesturing towards the door with a jerk of her head. She held the pistol in her hand, although out of sight of either of them in the darkness. She was more than prepared to protect them both, though, if whatever was down there turned out to be something _bad_. “You hear it, right?” She asked, straining her ears to hear the footsteps downstairs. They were still there, at least two people by her count, barely audible but audible nonetheless thanks to the silence within the home.

“Fuck…” Clementine whispered, her breathing growing faster and her gaze focusing on the door for a few seconds. “Okay... I’ll go get my things. You watch the door.” The girl said before leaping off the bed and rushing to her backpack near the edge of the room as quietly as she could manage. She rummaged through the backpack for a moment, eventually pulling her gun out, before turning back towards Ellie. “Be careful, alright?” She said in a stern voice, lifting the window open and shooting a quick glance towards the streets below, and shortly after, back to Ellie. “Don’t let them see you. I’ll come back.”

“You be careful, too,” Ellie hissed as she watched the girl disappear through the window, popping out the magazine from her pistol, reaching into her pocket to pull out the bullets she’d found earlier in the couple’s gun. She wasn’t sure if she should just wait here, gun at the ready, or figure out what’s going on as well. The fact she heard footsteps coming up the stairs was enough to have her heart beating fast. She had nowhere to hide, nowhere to go. Her best plan was to hide underneath the bed, gun clutched in her hand. It was a tight fit, but she managed to get underneath it. Her eyes were drawn to the door, aiming her weapon towards it, preparing herself to come face to face with someone she’ll probably have to kill.

Better to be careful than sorry.

* * *

 

There was a plan in practice, sort of. If the guys downstairs weren’t in a large group, Clementine would wait for the right time to jump them, either forcing them to drop their stuff or shooting them on sight. Hopefully the former. If there were too many of them, or they happened to be the same assholes from the bridge, Clem would throw a rock at the window to get Ellie’s attention, so they could both leave without being seen. In hindsight, she wasn’t sure if Ellie would actually stay in the room. It was a massive hole in her plan, but it’s a risk she was willing to take. She carefully made her way down from the roof, confirming the fact that someone came in uninvited by finding the front door wide open. There wasn’t anyone in immediate sight, outside or inside the house. It was worrisome, without a doubt, but the girl snuck inside nonetheless. Ducking behind the couch with her revolver in her hand, she stuck with the plan she devised beforehand, waiting for whoever was there to reveal themselves so she could hopefully get an idea of how many people they were dealing with.

Clementine listened intently as the sound of creaking doors echoed through the house, a small droplet of sweat running down her nose whilst the grip on her revolver became firmer. It was nearly impossible to tell for sure, but from the little she was able to pick up from the footsteps near the garage, it sounded like just one guy. _Just one guy…_ The girl held back the impulse to take him on, knowing getting too far ahead of herself could end really badly for Ellie and her. The urge to take a peek was likewise nearly agonizing, but Clem had to wait it out, just in case. If they were lucky, this guy and his hypothetical friends would simply leave on their own. _Please just go away..._

“Clear down here. How we doing up there?” Suddenly, the man shouted, called out for someone else, and Clementine’s eyes flung wide in shock.

Part of her thought, no, _**knew**_ with absolute certain it had to be some kind of delusion, lack of sleep, _anything_ …! That guy sounded exactly like Lee, but there was none, absolutely no fucking chance it was actually him. Clementine’s head peeked above the couch in a hurry, what stood beyond it was absolutely succeeding in drawing tears from her eyes. _Holy shit!_ “Lee!” She shouted without a second thought, or the least bit of hesitation, climbing over the couch in order to get to him.

Lee turned around within a split-second, his eyes widening just as wide as Clementine’s had grown. “Clementine!” His voice was exasperated, genuinely delighted, as he yelled her name and embraced her as she ran over. Clementine was bursting with joy as Lee nearly lifted her up with the fiercest of hugs, barely able to speak with her ribcage being pressed the way it was. That was, until he let out a pained gasp and placed her back down, putting both hands on her shoulders with a relieved smile. “Are you okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine, Lee…!” She shyly exclaimed, laughing internally at his customary overblown amount of concern.

“Is Ellie with you?”

“Ellie’s upstairs. We’re both fine,” she reassured him with a smile, one that quickly faded away the moment _**it**_ hit her. Ellie was bit, she still was… and somehow she hadn’t turned, and wasn’t going to. It was still so _absolutely_ beyond the bounds of possibility, but Clementine had no doubt she was telling the truth. How, and when were they going to tell Lee? Would they? Should they…? That plethora of questions hit her all at once, causing the girl to avert her gaze for the briefest of moments. _Is this how Ellie felt all this time?_

She ignored the weight of such a crucial predicament, at least momentarily, confident that Ellie would know what to do, and when to do it. With a sigh, she looked back towards Lee, holding off on the dozen of questions she had to ask him to deal with what she deemed the most pressing concern. “Joel’s with you, right?”

“Yeah, he’s upstairs actually,” Lee chuckled slightly, which made Clementine sigh with relief. They were lucky, _really_ lucky that they managed to find each other. What were the odds? Out here? In the middle of nowhere? She didn’t want to question it, choosing to cherish the fact that it _did_ happen. For a moment, Lee looked over the room they were in, and the plates they left behind on the kitchen table. “Well, well… you guys kept yourselves busy without us. Playing darts, and…” He was cut off as they heard footsteps from above, Ellie and Joel descending the stairs.

* * *

Ellie headed down the steps two at a time. Once she was at the bottom, she caught sight of Lee and Clementine. “How the hell did you two find us?” She asked, the question directed towards Lee as she quickly strode towards them.

“We were headed to the radio tower, we figured that’s where you girls were headed too, it’s a miracle you guys didn’t smell us from a mile away before-” Lee replied, only for his words to die in his throat. Ellie could see the warmness in his eyes turn to shock in an instant, his eyes focused on her. She looked down, only then noticing she wasn’t wearing the jacket, and her bite was exposed for the world to see. _Oh, fuck!_ Silence filled the room as Lee took a step back, only to be broken by Lee’s sudden shout. “Clem! Get back...” He extended his hand towards Clementine, the fear that she’d been expecting filling his eyes. “Ellie… listen…” he sighed out as he tried to recompose himself, keeping his distance as he pointed to the bite, looking towards Joel. “Her arm… it- we need to take care of it...”

As Lee stammered, Ellie held up her hands, trying to diffuse the situation. With Lee being the only one who didn’t know about the immunity, she hoped it wouldn’t take long to convince him. “Lee, calm down, alright? I’m immune. Ask Clem, I’ve already told her everything. The bite’s months old.” Her gaze fell on Joel, who’d undoubtedly would be angry with her for even letting them know this. “Sorry. I was cleaning it, and she found me, and I couldn’t hide it. I trust her, though.” She returned her gaze towards Lee. “And him.”

Clementine held on to the hand Lee extended towards her, probably in an attempt to attract his attention. “She’s… she’s telling the truth!” She desperately told Lee. “I don’t know… I don’t know _how_ , but Ellie’s been bit since we met. Way longer than that, and she’s not infected. It’s the truth.” The girl insisted with utmost certainty in her voice, and Ellie hoped that it was enough to get Lee to stop overreacting. Clem’s eyes flew towards Joel, her look one of contempt. ‘‘Joel?’’

“Lee, you don’t understand.” Joel held a hand out. “She’s had the bite since I met her. That’s... that’s why we’re together.” Joel touched a hand to his forehead, evidently frustrated. “Ellie’s immune to the Cordyceps virus.”

As Joel and Clementine tried to back her up, Ellie found herself swallowing the lump forming in her throat. She had a feeling that Lee might listen to both Joel and Clementine, but... it wasn’t the full story, and she had a feeling Lee wanted evidence. However, she couldn’t bear to go through it again, the painful memories associated with that night at the mall. Just the thought of bringing up Riley again was enough to have her gut twisting, like a knife plunged into her stomach. She gulped, silently hoping that Lee would come around. He _had_ to.

Lee shook his head, and for a moment, he stared at the bite on her arm. Everything they were saying seemed to be sinking in, and Ellie could feel her heartbeat slowly subsiding. “But… how...? How are you immune? Everyone that’s bit turns within a day, that’s how it is… that’s how it’s always been...”

Ellie took in a deep breath, pushing away the memories bubbling to the surface, focusing her gaze on Lee once more. “We’re heading to the Fireflies because they’re going to get the cure from me. That’s all that matters anymore.”

Lee placed both hands on his temples, his fingertips massaging them as he closed his eyes. “Okay… Okay…” He breathed in and out as he paced from side to side for a moment, before halting and looking back to her and Joel. “How long exactly were you guys expecting to keep this from us? I mean, I get it… I really do, but… there’s someone that’s immune to the cordyceps, standing _right there_. That’s pretty important information don’t you think? And having to find out like this… just - goddamn…”

“Because yesterday, we didn’t know if we could trust you. You left us behind on the bridge, remember?” Ellie replied instantly, before Joel could say anything. This was her mistake to fix, so she had to be the one to fix it. “Then today’s been just one shitty situation after another, and none of us have slept much since yesterday. I wanted to tell you both, I just... wish it wasn’t like this.” She took in a deep breath, sighing. “You could’ve thought we were crazy, or tried to kill us, for all we knew. Same as anyone else we’ve run into. I’m sorry, Lee, but we couldn’t risk that. So... forgive me, please?”

Were this any other situation with any other survivor, she wouldn’t be nearly as diplomatic about this. Joel was right that they should limit who knew about the immunity, but after everything they’ve been through, not telling Lee and Clementine would only force a rift between them. She didn’t want that to happen.

“Don’t... worry about it,” he sighed out finally.  The tension in the air died just as quickly as it had come, leaving Ellie to let out a breath as Lee slumped onto the couch. he finally slumped down on the couch, rubbing his head. He looked back up towards them, looking as tired as Ellie felt. “Uhm, sorry. We should, uh… get some rest? Still got a walk ahead of us to that radio tower tomorrow.”

She was glad that she managed to convince Lee that she was immune. For a second, it seemed as if it was going to be far more challenging. The last thing she wanted to do was argue with a grown man while she was still half asleep.

Joel shuffled nervously, towering over Ellie and Clementine, as well as the now-sitting Lee. “You’re right. We’ll talk more about this later.” He rested him arm against the wall, rubbing at his breaking watch, before frowning and looking towards Ellie.

“Rest sounds good,” Clementine added with a soft nod and a smile.

An instinctive yawn escaped Ellie’s lips, stretching her arms and shoulders in the process, merely the _idea_ of rest being enough to elicit the response. Sleep sounded good, alright. Blissful, even.

“There’s another bed upstairs, but… it’s uh, well, there’s a dead couple in it. Otherwise, there’s the couch,” Ellie half-chuckled, scratching at the back of her neck. She remembered being in their position not a few hours ago, back when Clementine had insisted that they sleep in the same bed. That wasn’t going to happen this time. There’s no way they’d fit all four of them in that bed, not to mention how fucking awkward it’d be. With the words uttered, though, she already began her ascent up the stairs, heading straight for her spot on the bed. The sooner her face was against a pillow, the sooner she’d be able to fall asleep again, and the sooner she can put this day behind her.

* * *

 

Nothing was quite as blissful as waking up to the feeling of warm sunlight on her skin. A small, comfortable groan radiated from Ellie’s nose, the young girl opening her right eye a little to see the world around her. The girl’s room looked so different in the sunlight, a shade of pink covering the walls, although it had subdued with age. She wasn’t sure what time it was, but based on how refreshed she felt, she must’ve been asleep for a while. She wouldn’t complain. As she stretched her legs, there was a noticeable absence from behind her, where Clementine had slept the night. _I’m probably the last one to wake up_ , she mused, rolling her eyes at the thought. _Worth it._

She pulled herself into a sitting position, noticing then that Clementine wasn’t even in the bed anymore. Her eyes were drawn to the window, which had been left open. _No wonder it’s so cold in here._ She could see Clementine sitting on the slanted roof, her arms resting on her knees. Her back was turned towards Ellie, her hair waving gently in the breeze. The temperature had dropped significantly, it seemed, so she didn’t envy the girl at that moment. _Another storm’s coming. Should’ve figured the warm weather wouldn’t last long._ She had no idea how long the girl’s been awake, but it definitely seemed to be long enough for her to get lost in her thoughts.

She pulled herself out of bed, slowly approaching the open window before climbing through. She was sure the girl had heard her by then, but that didn’t matter. Wouldn’t stop her from sitting down next to her, zipping her jacket up further as she slipped it on. “Man,” she yawned, rolling her shoulders slightly as her gaze faltered, towards Clementine next to her, for a brief moment, before returning to the road below. “ _That’s_ the best sleep I’ve had in ages. Too bad we can’t take the bed with us.” Given the circumstances, the difficult night they had, filled with immunity reveals and dart games, she had a feeling that Clementine felt the same way. Sleep was great, something that she barely got _any_ of, and dearly wished that she did. Waking up after who knows how long? That was almost a dream come true.

“Ditto,” the girl replied in a quiet voice, her gaze focused on the scenery surrounding them, drawn to it like a moth to a flame. “But, y’know… we’ll be sleeping in beds _all the time_ after we find the Fireflies, right? Just gotta push on for a little while longer.” The girl grimly concluded, her gaze facing the roof beneath her.

“Yeah…” Ellie replied in an even breath, nodding her head. She hoped that they’d make it soon. She knew it was going to be a long journey, but… maybe things will be alright. Maybe the worst is behind them, now. They just had to make it to Joel’s brother’s place, find out where the Fireflies were, and make it there. No biggie, right? Wyoming. It was far, but it’s not far enough to stop them. Ellie dangled her legs off the edge of the roof, letting them kick back and forth in a slow, methodical pattern. The cool air was surprisingly refreshing, the wind occasionally blowing her free-flowing hair into her face, and forcing her to comb it away with her fingers. Sooner or later, she’d put it back up into the ponytail. She glanced back towards Clementine, only just managing to get a glimpse of her before she was forced to fix her hair again. “How long have you been awake?”

The question was simply meant to be an ice breaker, the long day they had yesterday still fresh in her mind. Sometimes, she couldn’t believe everything that happened, how her and Clem went from trying to kill each other two days ago, to whatever they were _now_. Then there was her and Lee finding out about her immunity, which was enough to shake the foundation of whatever friendship they’ve forged to the core, but… it seemed like… maybe… things were going to be alright. Hopefully. That was all she could really ask for, though. Another chance to start again, to make it right. This time, she will.

Clem tilted her head to the side, appearing deep in thought. “No idea,” she finally stated before slumping down, laying her back against the roof, her eyes now faced to the clouds. For a moment, she didn’t move, simply staring off into space, and Ellie followed suit, laying down next to the girl. “So, you’re immune…” Clementine opened with, her voice soft but rough around the edges. “Who else knows about it? Besides Joel…”

“And you and Lee?” Ellie added, glancing at the girl out of the corner of her eye. The small splotches of sunlight she felt earlier seemed to have quickly disappeared, replaced by a wave of clouds rolling over the city. The temperature continued to drop with the inclement weather, leading to a small shiver to run down her spine. She let out a heavy breath, the air just _barely_ cold enough that it came out in a thin mist. “Marlene. The uh… she’s the leader of the Fireflies. I’d guess she probably told a couple of her friends, too. Besides her and Joel, it’s really just you two that know about it.” She let out a sigh, glancing at the girl. She wasn’t looking towards her, still, focusing on the clouds above with an intense stare. _Finding all of this out must’ve really frazzled her._ The thought crossed her mind as she shifted in her spot, trying to get comfortable. “So, uh… I know I’ve already said this, but… I’m sorry that I didn’t mention it sooner. I wish I had.” She let out an awkward chuckle, shaking her head. “For what it’s worth, I’ve got no more secrets left. From here on, I’m an open book.”

“That so?” Clementine asked with a faint laugh, mulling over that statement for a while. “How’d you _really_ meet Joel? You said he sneaked you out of Boston. What does that mean?”

Ellie figured she’d ask about Joel, given they haven’t really talked about the specifics on how they met. It wasn’t all that grand, anyway. “Well, Marlene hired him to smuggle me out of the quarantine zone, and hand me off to some Fireflies waiting at the capitol building in Boston. By the time we were out of the QZ… well, Joel had already found out about me being immune. Didn’t believe me, either. We made it to the capitol building, but found the Fireflies there were dead. After that, we sorta just… headed west, to find his brother, who used to be a Firefly, apparently.” She let out a heavy breath, shrugging her shoulders. “Fast forward a bit, and here we are.”

“Well, what kind of guy is he?” Clementine asked her next question, placing her hands behind her head and crossing one leg over the other one. “Honestly,” she added.

Ellie shrugged, realizing then how little she even knew about Joel, beyond what little he’s told her and how he acts. She didn’t realize how much that affected her until that moment. “Well, uh,” she started, letting out a half-sigh. “He was kind of a dick when I first met him. Still can be, sometimes. Took me a while just to convince him to give me a gun, and that was only after I saved his life with one, back in the city. He’s alright, I guess, but he’s kinda… moody, I guess you could say. I get him to crack up from time to time, though. Got a pun book I read from, when it’s quiet.” She fell into a brief moment of silence, pursing her lips. “Honestly, I don’t know him all that well. We’ve only been traveling together for a short while.”

* * *

Nothing was quite as terrible as waking up with your head on the ground. Joel had managed to nab a moth-eaten blanket from a drawer and laid on it, giving Lee the couch on the condition that he got the next one. His eyes opened, no blanket over him and his only mattress being the aforementioned thin sheet. He sat up, rubbing at his head and groaning. Looking down at his wrist, he grimaced. His watch was still broken.

He got to work, moving his backpack onto the counter and looking through it. He was hungry, as much as he was sure the girls and Lee were. The three cans of food he had in his pack were hardly enough. Beans, pineapple, and corn. Sounded like a meal to him. Looking around, he decided somebody would need to forgo food, and that person would just have to be himself. Or, he could split the food up, but he wasn’t sure how great of a nutritional diet that would give. He dropped the cans on the counter, and decided to make that decision later. Instead, he walked into the garage, taking note of the prickly dartboard still covered from Ellie and Clementine’s game.

Joel smiled weakly. Making his way over, he drug his fingers along each of the throws. _Friends. They’re friends now._ Ellie and Clementine, he had meant. He swallowed, taking the darts off the board and piling them up in his palms. He walked back, dropping them on a metal counter that had once served as a father’s tool bench. He dropped the darts onto it, then picked up one. Turning around, he began to aim his throw. _Time to show them how a real master does it._ He smiled to himself, then threw the dart. It sailed through the air, hitting its mark. Well, if its mark happened to be the wall beside the dartboard. He decided that perhaps darts weren’t actually his thing, then.

He glared at the misplaced dart, still poking from the wall. It glared right back, as if it was mocking him, to which Joel didn’t appreciate the dart in doing so. He sighed, picking up another dart before a voice pierced the air.

“Rusty on the darts, are we? Can probably say the same for me, too. It’s been a while.”

Joel turned his head with surprise, fingers flying to his jeans only to see Lee standing in the doorway. “Oh. Yeah, I guess I’m a little off.” He smiled, looking over at the board. “You sleep well?” He asked, dropping the dart back onto the counter it once lied on. Perhaps it was best to open up a little bit more with Lee… maybe even Ellie and Clementine, too, but not too much. They were good people, but they were holding him back. He had a mission, and that was getting the girl across the states. Nothing could be allowed to stop that.

“Not really,” Lee admitted with a blunt sigh. “But I’ll be able to sleep when we get to that radio tower.” He uncrossed his arms as he fully entered the garage. A small scoff escaped him as he examined the board, seeing where Joel’s dart landed. He eyed off the table where the other darts were sprawled out. He picked up one of the darts as he distanced himself from the board, roughly around where Joel had stood when he threw. Lee’s eyes were on the board, and he spoke to Joel in a casual tone. “Your girl. Striked me as someone that’s grown up in one of the FEDRA zones. So, the reason you’re with her is because you’re delivering her to the Fireflies…” HIs voice trailed off for a moment, looking towards Joel before returning to aiming the dart. “How’d you get out of Boston, then?” He asked as he sent the dart flying, whirling through the air for a moment before it connected with the board with a thud, before Lee winced, the dart ricocheting off the board and falling to the ground. Cursing under his breath, he went to retrieve it, walking over to Joel as he held the dart out for him to take.

Joel took the dart from his hand, having yet to answer his question. He supposed it was tough to do so, considering the circumstances of their departure from Boston. Looking over the board, he pursed his lips, aiming his throw. “Yeah. We were supposed to meet a group of Fireflies in Boston who would’ve taken her to wherever they were going.” He paused, throwing the dart forward. It stuck itself firmly in the wall next to his previous throw. He groaned, but continued to speak soon after. “Soldiers… killed them.” He paused again, wincing. “FEDRA tried to take us in, but we managed to get away. As you can… tell.” His voice shook momentarily, and he leaned up against the counter.

The game wasn’t going so swell for Joel. He watched Lee preparing a shot, who shot another question towards him. “So how’d you wind up getting yourself into taking an immune girl halfway across the country?” Joel had tried his best to dodge the question, but it seemed to be to no avail. Lee was going to throw it in his face, and Joel was too busy chewing in his gums anxiously to respond. He waited a moment, the question nearly killing him. The reason he took Ellie across the country… _Tess made you, didn’t she?_ He had thought about Tess a few times since her violent end, despite his best efforts to not do so. But, at least, he hadn’t had to talk about it. Ellie knew not to bring it up, and he appreciated her respecting that for him. But Lee wasn’t in the loop, the loop of Joel’s twisted psyche putting him at odds with any sensitivity or vulnerability. Joel was _not_ weak. Thankfully, Joel didn’t have to answer the question yet. He opened his mouth, readying himself to answer and then Lee’s next dart landed square on the bullseye. “Well, shit,” Lee smiled.

“Good shot!” Joel exclaimed, the sound catching in his throat momentarily. He looked over the board, the sole dart being Lee’s great shot. It was time to show Lee what for. He pulled his arm back, hoping Lee forgot about the question entirely. “Uh, how’d you and Clementine meet?” He asked with distinct succinctness, throwing the dart forward. It landed to the left of the ten on the board, stuck in the black space. Not terrible. Not particularly good, either.

“A good couple of years,” Lee replied. “I was scouting the riverfront for supplies, and uh… I just… see this little girl peeking down at me from a window in a little treehouse. I couldn’t leave her… and here we are…” he explained, rather vaguely, as Lee crossed his arms. Lee and Clementine had seemed to have a deeper bond. They had been together for what amounted to years, according to Lee. Joel nodded to him, a broken smile trying to crawl from the cracks of his face. _A good samaritan._ He thought. A strange one, especially given Lee’s previous abandonment issues. Joel opened his mouth to add on to Lee’s story, but had nothing, and clamped his mouth shut right after. _Why can’t you just answer his question?_ Joel asked himself, frowning. In all honesty, he knew the reason why. He just didn’t like admitting it. Instead, Lee continued to speak for him. “Since we know who’s _clearly_ better at darts, maybe we should call it quits here and get going, yeah?”

Joel greedily nodded. "If I was given a few more throws, I think I could have taken ya." He smiled, a small scoff escaping the other man’s lips as he picked up his bag. Joel looked away from Lee, shrugging. "I got few cans of food in my pack, if you and the girls want some."

“I’ll call them down, see if the girls are hungry,” Lee nodded towards Joel as they exited the garage and back into the living room. He hovered by the stairs, calling out for the two girls in question. “Hey, uh, if you guys are awake, we got some… breakfast, if you want it. We gotta get going soon, so scoot!”

* * *

A brief silence filled the air as the two continued to look up into the cloud-filled sky. Ellie’s thoughts dwell on Joel for a bit, thinking about every detail she knew about him, and things she picked up along the way. He was alright, she guessed, but he had his moments. Like when they were on the beach, or when she shot that guy that was trying to kill him. She wasn’t sure if he did that because he didn’t want her to get hurt, or himself. Whatever motivations he had besides ‘getting her to the Fireflies’ were a mystery to her. Might be the only reason, now that she thought about it.

Clearing her throat, and her mind, Ellie sat up, wrapping her arms around her legs before glancing towards Clementine. “So, uh, we’re probably going to be here for a while, huh? How about another game? To pass the time?”

That seemed to pique Clem’s interest, the girl turning her head towards Ellie with a raised eyebrow. “Another game…?” She asked in a low voice, amused. She sat up, crossing her legs before shooting Ellie another amused look. “Shoot me.”

Ellie let out a chuckle, shaking her head. “No, the game isn’t to shoot you,” she joked, a small smile appearing on her face. “It’s a game I played with Riley one time, back when we first met. Two truths, and a lie. Pretty simple. You say two facts about yourself, and a lie. Then the other person’s gotta guess which one is the lie.” _Let’s just see how mysterious you really are, Clementine._ “I’ll get us started. One,” she pointed up her index finger, indicating the number one, and taking a second to think of something. “I’ve spent _pretty much_ my entire life in quarantine zones. Two. I… never got to meet my parents.” _Way to make it depressing, Ellie._ “And three. I once found a working arcade machine with Riley. It was still getting power from the QZ, so we stole some money from the cash register and played it all night. Which one’s the lie?”

The girl thought about Ellie’s statements for a moment. “Okay… I think I got it,” Clementine confidently declared, scratching her nose before going through each one. “Whole life in a quarantine zone… that’s, uh… I’m going to say truth. Kind of… hope it isn’t, though.” The girl remarked with a sad look, before moving on to the next one. “Parents. Truth.” She quickly stated, and just as quickly moved on. “And, arcade machine. Nope. Lie.” She grinned, and Ellie returned it with one of her own.

“Not bad, Clem. We actually did find an arcade machine once, but we just pretended that they worked,” she admitted, shrugging. “The others are all true, though,” she continued. She twisted her body around, facing towards Clementine as she hugged her legs to her body. “Alright, Clem, your turn. Dazzle me with tales of your adventures through the wasteland.”

Clementine stifled a laugh, leaning her back against the window behind them. “Dazzled… that’s one word for it.” She was lost in thought for a moment, and Ellie used that moment to readjust herself in her spot, the angle feeling awkward. “Alright. Don’t laugh,” Clementine finally stated, letting out a heavy sigh while averting her gaze. “I… I had a pet goat called Snow White.” She moved on rather quickly, straight into the second one. “I got bit by a dog once, really bad. Stitched it up myself, plus I got a cool scar to prove it.” The girl cleared her throat before getting into the final one. “I didn’t know the walkers were a _thing_ , until I was like nine years old. My parents tried to keep it from me… sometimes I don’t blame them for it. When I met Lee, he taught me about them, and he taught me how to make it on my own.” She raised her gaze towards Ellie, locking eyes. “So, which one’s the lie?”

“Hummm,” Ellie took a moment to think about it, going over each answer in her head. “Let’s see… parents hid the infected from you? Can’t say I’m surprised. Well, a _little_. I’m gonna say… truth, on that one.” That one was simple enough, and seemed the most likely of the answers. “Got bit by a dog, huh? And stitched it up yourself? Damn, that’s hardcore. You’re gonna have to show me that if it’s true, which I think it is. Now, about this goat… named Snow White? You’ll have to remind me what Snow White’s from. Sounds familiar for some reason. Anyway, you said you lived on a farm once, so it’s not _completely_ bogus, but I don’t believe it. You’ll have to tell me if you _actually_ had any animals. That sounds awesome.”

“Snow White, c’mon… from the book,” Clementine explained, seemingly exasperated by the fact that Ellie didn’t really know. “And, nope. You’re wrong. Snow White really was my pet back at the farm. Baby goat.” She explained. “We had a horse, too, but she was too sick to move most of the time… So… uh, the lie.” The girl continued, deliberating over her words. “It wasn’t _all_ a lie. My parents did try to hide it from me, and Lee did teach me a ton of things after he took me in.” She came to a stop, smirking. “But, I didn’t find out about the walkers when I was nine. You see… one day, I left the gate open on Snow White’s pen.” She rubbed her palm, visibly uncomfortable with telling the story. “The walkers got her. I found Snow White’s corpse the next morning, and that’s when I found out… I was five years old, back then.” The answer hung in the air for a moment, before Clementine quickly pulled up her left sleeve, revealing the aforementioned dog bite, and faintly smiling at Ellie’s excitement over seeing it. “You were right about the dog, though. It fucking hurt…”

“Whoa, _damn_ , that’s sick,” Ellie took in the sight, inwardly grimacing as she imagined the pain Clementine must’ve felt when the dog bit her. She didn’t even feel hers, when that infected bit her. The adrenaline that was pumping through her veins was enough to block it out, but Clem? _Damn_ , she must’ve felt every ounce of pain from that. “That’s so cool you had animals, though. I’ve never really seen one up close, except like… a bunny, and some birds, obviously. I’ve ridden a horse too.” She shrugged her shoulders, wringing her hands together. “Did your parents have an actual farm? Like, did they grow food? I figured… they probably did, since it’s a farm, but… I don’t know. Must be a lot of work.”

“We grew tomatoes, onions, potatoes… stuff like that. It wasn’t easy, but Dad found a way. You would’ve liked it,” she told her with a warm smile.

Ellie shrugged her shoulders, smiling back. “Maybe we’ll see another farm, some day.”

“ _Hey uh, if you guys are awake, we got some… breakfast, if you want it. We gotta get going soon, so scoot!”_ Lee’s voice interrupted their conversation from inside the house. At the mention of food, any thought of seeing farm animals disappeared, replaced by the sudden growl Ellie’s stomach made. _Guess my stomach’s mind is made up._

“Looks like that’s our cue,” Ellie breathed, pulling herself up and heading towards the window. “C’mon, let’s see what they managed to scrounge up.”

They hastily made their way downstairs after climbing through the window, heading straight to the living room, where Lee had called for them. _Wonder what they’ve got._ Ellie thought to herself as they met up with the two adults, the pair handing the two girls a can of food each. A can of beans and another can of pineapples, not the greatest thing in the world, but at that moment, Ellie hardly cared. The two girls grabbed spoons from one of the drawers in the kitchen, using them to dig into their meals after opening the lid with a knife. The pineapples were really fucking terrible, its texture thick and gross, but it didn’t taste so bad. Better than eating nothing, anyway. Halfway through her meal, Clementine sat on the couch, speaking up with her mouth full. “When’re we leaving?”

“After ya’ll are done eatin’,” Joel replied, looking between the two girls. “We gotta get to the radio tower soon.”

Ellie nodded to that, continuing to eat away at the pineapples. Hopefully they’ll find more at the radio tower, because she knew for a fact that this wasn’t going to be enough. She was surprised that she’s survived this long with so little, but… desperate times.

It was just a decent walk to the radio tower, and they can finally reap the rewards of this little journey. That’s all she needed to tell herself to keep going.

 


	9. Saving Grace

After finishing what would undoubtedly be an unsatisfactory meal, they were on the road again. Clementine’s stomach rumbled for more, and the hope that this radio tower would have a _lot_ more food grew exponentially with each minute that passed. Luckily, the streets weren’t too difficult to navigate, they just had to follow the road and keep the radio tower in their sights. As they strolled down another barren street, Clementine focused on their surroundings. She wanted to be aware of any threat that could possibly jump out at them. Walkers were bad, but these _infected_ were worse, and that’s not even including the bandits from Pittsburgh. They had to be careful, no matter how hungry they got.

Her attention then went to Joel and Lee, then to Ellie. After spending so much time apart yesterday, being all together again was… definitely a better feeling. She still didn’t trust Joel after his outburst on the beach, but that was a different story when it came to Ellie. Go back around forty hours, and it wasn’t like that. It was almost surreal, how not that long ago it had been just her and Lee and had been for a _long_ time… now they had _more_. Two more people to look after and care about, for better or worse. People other than Lee to talk to, which was… well, it made the whole thing worth it, in the end.

As they were crossing another street, Ellie’s gaze was drawn to a vehicle on the side of the road. It was some sort of van, painted white and blue, with these strange advertisements plastered all over the side of the vehicle. Scrutinizing it, Ellie glanced back towards Lee and Joel. “Hey. What’s this thing?”

“Huh?” Lee turned around with an eyebrow raised, only for his gaze to focus on the object in question. “Oh, this thing.” Clementine came to a sudden stop as everyone else did, shooting a puzzled gaze at the funny van the others seemed to interested in. It didn’t strike her as anything noteworthy, even with the copious amount of colors and letters on its side. The thing was too old to drive in, and to have anything of value inside it. It was just an old van. Lee, in particular, seemed rather fond of it, going as far as walking over to it and patting its hood. It was a weird fucking scene, and Clem was just moments away from asking what the heck was up with everyone. “ _This_ is an ice cream truck.” Lee looked back at Clementine and Ellie, who returned the stare with dumbfounded looks. “Back in the day, they used to sell ice cream out of it.”

“It’s true,” Joel added, “this thing would drive around and play real loud, creepy music and kids would come runnin’ out to buy ice cream.”

Finally, after Lee and Joel explained it, Clementine was able to make sense of it all. _Ice cream._ She’d heard of it before, somewhere. Where? She wondered, but for whatever reason, she couldn’t really recall. Some kind of sweet, the cold kind, that much she knew. She couldn’t help but feel a little left out, hearing the adults share their stories about creepy music and agitated little kids. The whole thing sounded kind of… surreal.

Ellie scoffed, looking towards Joel. “You’re totally fucking with us, right?”

His response was immediate. “Um-mm. Serious.”

The girl chuckled slightly, shaking her head. “Man, you lived in a strange time.”

Clementine spoke up after everyone else, feeling somewhat upset over her benightedness. “I… never had ice cream.” She said with her arms crossed, trying to convey the fact that she didn’t really get what they meant by all that. However, her response went under the radar, as Lee let out a chuckle and nudged his head towards the road ahead, ushering them onward. The further they traveled down the street, though, the more apparent it became that there were barking noises coming from ahead.

“Might wanna keep our distance here,” Lee spoke, looking back towards them.

The ringing growls vibrated in Clementine’s ears, almost as loudly as the thumping in her chest. Two dogs were ahead, gnawing away at… _something_ on the ground. Her feet trembled, fighting the agonizing urge to back away. Her fingers curled into a fist, whilst her right hand instinctively gravitated towards her knife holster. _Why’d it have to be dogs…?_ Nearly frozen in place, the girl took cover behind Lee, her brows drawing together in fear. “Lee…?” She called out in a low voice, hoping he’d be there… to keep them away. She didn’t want to be afraid… scared of _dogs_ , of all things… but she couldn’t help it. No amount of trying to look tough could hide the fact that she was terrified.

Ellie’s eyes, on the other hand, lit up at the sight of the dogs. “Aw, doggies.”

Joel peered towards the canines from afar, shaking his head. “You’re gonna wanna stay away from those. It’s not like it is in the zone. These are wild.” He finished as he walked towards a nearby house.

“They’re not gonna reach you. It’s okay.” Lee’s voice reached Clementine’s ears, a soothing tone that kept her - at least - somewhat calm. “Probably would be more scared of us than we are of them.”

The two wild dogs then hastily and suddenly took their leave, the streets of Pittsburgh returning to their eerie silence in their absence. Clementine subsequently regained her composure, distancing herself from Lee before crossing one of her arms. It was the worst kind of feeling, hiding behind him like a toddler. Was it dumb? Being scared of dogs…? Ellie didn’t look startled at all… more like the total opposite. _Doggies. Really?_ It didn’t matter, honestly. After what she went through, she simply couldn’t allow herself to be near a dog, ever again. No matter what.

Lee turned around, looking towards her. “See…? Gone.” He smiled, kneeling down and digging through his backpack for a moment. “Before we get going, forgot to give you these earlier, but here… for your hair.” He extended his hand, holding the spare hair ties she used to put her hair up.

She gladly accepted them. She’d lost all of hers in the sewers… and it was really awesome of Lee to carry extra ones with him. “Thanks,” she quietly uttered, taking the hair _thingies_ from Lee’s hands. She didn’t hate it, having her hair loose the way it was. It certainly wasn’t practical, but it felt like being a little kid again. Too bad it had to go. She wrapped her two hands around her voluminous hair, folding it under her hat before tying up what little insisted on peeking out of it. _There… back the way it should be._ “You sure they’re gone?” She asked with a touch of worry in her voice. They couldn’t stop now, but running into those dogs again, maybe even more of them… the thought shook the girl to her core.

She wouldn’t have a chance to dwell on that thought, however. The quiet surrounding them was interrupted by the sound of a roaring engine spurring to life, and Clementine jerked her head towards the source of the noise, widening her eyes in panic the moment it became clear who and what it was.

“Fooound youuu assholes!” A voice cackled as the truck came into full view, the very same one from Pittsburgh. “Thought you fuckers got away from us?!”

There wasn’t any time to speak, to think, or to breathe. The truck barreled towards them, and they had to go, _right_ _now_. Clementine drew her revolver, ready to make her six bullets count if need be, before grabbing Lee by the hand, urging him and the others to move. “Go, run!” She shouted, firing twice at the vehicle with the foolish hope of slowing them down. She ran as fast as her legs would allow without looking back, grimacing in frustration. They weren’t going to die… she wouldn’t let it happen.

Lee’s voice pierced the air as they kept running, Clementine looking towards him as he pointed towards something. “Alleyway!”

Clementine diverted towards the alleyway, her ragged breaths the only thing she could hear clearly. Ellie cursed nearby, but it was nearly drowned out by the sound of the truck gaining on them, followed by an exasperated shout. “What the fuck is wrong with these guys?!”

“Just keep running goddammit!” Joel’s voice replied to Ellie’s question, and at that point, Clementine stopped focusing on them. They had to find a way out of this, and she searched the area ahead with quick glances as she sprinted through the alleyway.

“C’mere cocksuckers!” The bandit screamed out, followed by the sound of glass breaking and fire whooshing somewhere behind her. Clementine spared a single glance back to see that they were _throwing molotovs_ at them. However, as the alleyway began to tighten, the bandits were forced to slow down. _Good._ Maybe they’ll have a chance to escape after all.

Until they were met with a dead end, they alleyway blocked off by a picketed tall fence. A few houses surrounded them, broken down cars and large trash cans being the only thing that could be used as cover. There was a ladder that led to a rooftop nearby, but it’d require them to leave cover to get to it.

The truck slammed on its breaks, followed by the sound of the bandits trying to gun the engine, to no avail. They’d gotten stuck. _Serves you right, assholes._

Lee knelt behind the police car Clementine and the others had hidden behind, holding onto his rifle as he quickly peeked, pulling the bolt back and firing towards the front window of the truck. The shot ricocheted off as Lee cursed, while bullets whirled above their heads, forcing him to duck down. “Thing’s goddamned bullet-proof!” He shouted, though it was drowned out by the sound of the police car’s window shattering from the hailstorm. “There’s gotta be a way out, or - or something we can use to buy us time…!” He breathed, pulling back the bolt of his rifle and peering inside. If he didn’t already look stressed, he certainly did now. After a brief pause, letting the bolt go, he spoke again. “We just gotta think. I’m open to any ideas here!”

Joel peered at the truck for a moment, kneeling back down. For a moment, his gaze lingered on a ladder resting against a building on the side of the alleyway. It was too far to reach, even for Joel, undoubtedly. They’d be torn to shreds before even getting halfway there. His eyes seemed to light up, and he slipped off his backpack, fumbling through it before pulling out the nail bomb Clementine remembered seeing him grab from before. Checking his revolver, he pulled out his five spare bullets and handed them to Lee. “Lee, I need you and the girls to distract the truck for me. Gimme the rifle. I’m gonna try and climb up and shoot at them whenever he tries to throw another molotov.” He looked down at the nail bomb, which he’d put on the ground. “I need you to throw the bomb at them first. Just pull the pin and throw. Ellie, Clem, if you have any ways of distracting it too, I’d be glad for the help.” He didn’t look at them as he spoke, instead zipping up his backpack and left it lying on the ground next to Lee.

“Alright man, here…” Lee passed over the rifle with a short nod and a serious look. “You got three shots. Make them count. Just… this isn’t a one-way trip… you’re coming back.”

Another cloud of bullets whizzed by, and Clementine kept her head down, leaning with her back against the police car as she swung out her revolver’s cylinder. _Only four left… you fucking shitting me?!_ Those bullets were flying all over the place, bouncing off the car they were using for cover and impacting the walls around them. Hell, it was raising the damn dirt off the ground… They couldn’t stay here, they absolutely couldn’t. Joel was on the right track, and Clementine made sure to listen to his every word, nodding the moment he was done. “I can shoot. That’s it,” she grimly replied, in spite of being fully aware that bullets wouldn’t work on that thing. _How the hell are we supposed to distract them?_ Time was running out, and they couldn’t afford to wait. So, she put her mind to work while Joel prepared to put his plan into action, trying to think of something they could use to keep those assholes occupied. “Wait, wait…! I got it,” she said, taking off her jacket and ruffling through her backpack. “We can burn the tires! If the smoke’s thick enough, they won’t see us through it.” After grabbing the box from her backpack, Clementine lit one of the matches, lighting her jacket on fire. _Hope I don’t regret this…_ “I need a hand! Anything that’ll help make a fire. Hurry!”

“I’ve got this!” Ellie replied, pulling off her own backpack and fishing out the bottle of vodka the girl had found in the house. There wasn’t much left, but it _should_ be enough there to get the fire started, and keep it going.

Lee was the next to speak, digging around his back for a moment. “Good idea, Clem. Okay, I’ve got, uh…” He fished out a bunch of flammable stuff, including tissues and scraps of paper, piling them up next to Clementine for her to use. He clutched the nail bomb in his other hand, holding it carefully. After the tires were lit, they wouldn’t be able to stay behind the car for long, so their only hope was that this… _somehow_ succeeded.

Clementine placed Lee’s junk around the blaze generated by her jacket, fueling the fire enough to make a small puff of smoke, but not nearly enough to be useful. That’s where the tires came in, and where Ellie’s aid would really come into play. _This’ll help, I hope…_ She poured the alcohol over both of the tires facing them, kicking the flaming jacket in their direction, and watching as the synthetic rubber burst into flames.

“It worked!” She exclaimed in contained excitement, giving Joel a confident look to signal the fact that the rest was all up to him. Gradually, a large puff of darkened smoke spread throughout their surroundings, bringing with it the sickening, acrid smell almost too excruciating to endure.

Once the smoke filled the air, Joel rushed towards the ladder, climbing up in quick movements. Clementine was forced to crouch low as the smoke floated around her, using her shirt to block out the worst of the ash from entering her lungs. Her back continued to heat up as the fire grew, and she found herself stumbling a few steps away from the tires, putting enough distance between the flames and herself to feel relatively safe. However, she made sure that she was still behind the cover of the police cruiser. It was only a matter of time before those assholes in the truck tried coming up with a plan to break through the smokescreen, most likely with another barrage of bullets, so staying beyond their line of fire meant sticking close to the _real_ fire, for now. Until Joel can follow through with his plan, that is.

The crackle of the fire filled her ears like an intense static, only for another noise to cut through like a knife. The whirring of the machine gun starting back up, before the deafening cracks of bullets followed suit. As far as she could tell, they weren’t aimed towards Ellie, Lee, and her, but towards Joel. She silently hoped that he was alright, but it was hard to tell through the smog surrounding them. Windows shattered, and bricks chipped, but no pained scream followed the bullets. _Good_.

However, a screech of a different kind reached her ears, a metallic one. She looked up just in time to see the metal ladder clanging to the ground nearby, worry rising in her chest as she considered yelling out for Joel, but chose not to. She didn’t need to, anyway, as the man’s southern drawl pierced the air.

“THROW THE NAIL BOMB!”

The message got through loud and clear, and Lee was already looking towards her and Ellie. “Keep your heads down and stay low!” He directed his attention back towards the source of Joel’s voice, calling out in a loud voice. “ALRIGHT!” He pulled the pin on the nail bomb, wrenching himself up and throwing the device through the smoke. The bomb exploded loud enough to leave Clementine’s ears ringing, and she couldn’t tell whether or not it’d found its mark in the end, but the weapons stopped momentarily. Then, the sound of a hatch opening, and another harsh shout was thrown back towards them.

“Nice try!”

A faint _fwoosh_ sound, followed by a grunt as the bandit presumably prepared himself to throw a molotov, then the sound of a gunshot as Ellie tried to fire blindly through the smoke, to apparently no avail. All of these things reached her ears in the span of a second, before one final, louder shot reached her ears. Joel’s sniper rifle. A scream, followed by a much louder _fwooooooooosh_ , signaled the end of the bandits, Clementine lifting herself from the ground to peer through the smoke, watching as the death truck was set ablaze by the dropped molotov.

As the only sound became the crackling of the fire, Clementine found herself looking towards Lee and Ellie, relief washing over her. Her nose burned, and her throat even more so, but they were alive. Lee’s gaze focused on Joel above, offering him a shaky thumbs up. “We’re okay!” He shouted, pushing himself to his feet. “See another way down from up there?”

Joel stood up, appearing to look around for a moment. The hunting rifle was in his hand, and he pulled back the bolt, the casing bouncing off of the edge of the rooftop and falling to the ground. He held a thumbs up back towards Lee, bending his knees. “I’ll figure something out!” He called back, looking around.

Joel disappeared, while Clementine’s gaze focused on Lee and Ellie. With the bandits dead, she took a moment to catch her breath, backing away from the burning inferno that had become the car. Clementine’s eyes were drawn to the street beyond the alleyway, searching for any sign of more bandits waiting to pouncing on them. So far, nothing, until…

“Oh, fuck…” Ellie’s voice reached Clem’s ears, making Clementine’s eyes grow wider in fear, Ellie’s words grabbing her attention before the many blaring groans in the distance were able to. The girl backed away from the car, looking towards Joel as he rejoined them on the street. “Joel?!”

Clementine slowly stood up, coughing repeatedly, thanks to her scheme from earlier. She made her way to Lee’s side, where she hoped to be able to see for herself what was coming. The sight left her dazed, too much so for the girl to let out any kind of sound. A horde of infected, drawn towards all the gunfire, and straight into the alleyway. Someone had to hold them off, someone had to do _something_ …!

She aimed her revolver towards the cluster of infected, focusing her sights on the ones trying to climb over the police car. The first batch came rather quickly, crawling over the hood, the back and the top. The fire took care of some of them, holding back the initial influx of infected. Eventually, the fucking things started crawling on top of each other, and that’s when they finally forced their way through. Clementine pulled her trigger once, hitting her first target in the head and killing it instantly. More followed shortly after, yet Clementine stood firm. She pulled the trigger again, again, and _again_ … each of her shots taking care of one at a time, until the only thing leaving the barrel of the gun was the terrifying sound of an empty cylinder. _Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!_ “JOEL!” She shouted at the top of her lungs, the girl’s eyes filled with despair. They didn’t have any time left.

“Through here, there’s a backdoor!” Joel cried out, pointing towards the house he’d gone through to get to them. “C’mon!” He kicked the door open, Clementine following him quickly, far before Lee managed to croak out an instruction for her and Ellie to follow the larger man. Lee fired off two shots into the horde, but Clementine didn’t look back, only doing so once they were all inside and the door was slammed shut behind them. It wouldn’t hold for long, though, despite Lee propping a chair underneath the door’s handle. They looked around in a panic, the infected were beginning to surround the house, breaking windows and trying to get in. They followed Joel through the house, before Lee spotted the back door.

“There!” He ran over to it, testing the doorknob. It was locked, but with the combined help from Joel, they were able to force it open. The radio tower was in sight beyond the backyard. They just had to keep running, and hopefully lose these _things_ before they got there.

She really wanted to believe that they could…

 

* * *

 

To say that Lee was glad to be inside the radio tower after spending almost two days trying to reach it would be an understatement. They had really been pulled through the ringer recently: Pittsburgh, bandits, bridges, sewers… he was finally ready to be done with all of it and move on. What was even more bizarre was the fact they’d met an unlikely couple of… _people with the same goals? Temporary partners? Friends?_ Truthfully, he didn’t quite know what to call them yet, all he knew was that they were on the same side, and going to the same place… and that one of them was immune.

This place was a goldmine. After arriving there, they’d found at least a week’s worth of food, along with a decent amount of ammunition. The group that’d attacked them earlier were obviously stockpiling here, but they wouldn’t stick around to find out if that was true. In the morning, they’d be gone. They’d found a portable gas stove and had placed it on the ground, along with a few blankets to sit on as they huddled around it, waiting for their meals to warm up. Lee was astonished at how _peaceful_ this felt, as they began to joke around and exchange a few stories. When it was his turn, he spoke of the time that he felt had been hilarious at the time, with his brother, who’d gotten himself into a verbal argument with some bullies who were throwing insults and cans at their car. Lee was driving, and his brother had been in the passenger seat. They were much younger at the time, late teens, and far more unruly than Lee would care to admit.

“-and so he sticks his head out of the window, and gets ready to scream back… but, right when he opens his mouth, SMACK! Tree branch whacks him right across the face. So, he decides to scream at me instead for not warning him, except… well, when he tried to talk, he had a lisp, and a mouthful of leaves, of course. His cheek was so red, when our parents asked, he tried to say he got stung by a bee.”

This was nice. It’d been a while since they could openly talk like this to others… the last person they had been able to do something like this with had - _don’t think about it._

Joel let out a hearty laugh. “Brothers do the stupidest things.” Joel was sitting cross-legged across from Lee, with Ellie and Clementine in between the two of them. He raised a finger, grinning. “My brother, Tommy, he made me get him an’ me two Harleys so we could go cross-country. Dead serious.”

Clementine tilted her head to the side in response, the strand of hair poking out of her hat moving accordingly. “What’s a Harley?”

“It’s a motorcycle. I think,” Ellie explained, looking up from her switchblade, which she had been idly flicking in and out while Lee and the others talked. When all eyes turned to her, she simply shrugged. “Some soldiers in the zone would talk about wanting one.” She continued to flick the blade in and out for a few more seconds, leaning her back against a crate she’d sat behind her. Finally, she continued to speak, with a small smile on her face. “Sounds pretty cool, actually. Did you two get them?” She addressed the question towards Joel, curiosity written across her face.

“Yeah, we did.” Joel grinned, looking towards gas stove for a moment. “Once Tommy got his mind set on it, we just… rode along.” He rubbed at his cheek, leaning forward. “It was good. It was real good.”.

“Really? You got to ride the _powerhouse_ of back in the day, and it was just _good_? I think you’re trying not to make us jealous here, Joel,” Lee chuckled jokingly as he sat up a little, resting his arm on one knee as he directed his attention to the stove, reveling in the fact that they would actually be getting warm food tonight. “Never rode one myself, but… maybe one day.” Riding across country with your brother on two Harleys. That was something Lee would have definitely wanted to do with his brother, but most of the time, he was working at the pharmacy, and Lee had moved on into teaching. It was hard to find time for that sort of thing.

He was pulled away from his thoughts as Ellie sighed, pushing herself to her feet before glancing over the room around her. She returned her gaze back towards them after a moment. “Hey, I’m gonna search around some more. See if I can’t dig up something we missed.” With that, she started towards the nearby door leading into the small office they searched earlier.

Joel had simply nodded after her. “Alright, Ellie,” he had stated, returning his attention back to Lee and Clementine, before looking down at his watch, sniffling. “What time you wanna head out in the morning?”

“I’d say as soon as we can. Don’t want to be around in case those bandits decide to come up this way,” Lee spoke as he readjusted himself to sit more upright. They all knew better, after that shitshow back in the alleyway, that they shouldn’t get too comfortable for too long. It’d only end up being them looking down the barrel of a gun from some thug before too long, or the gnashing teeth of some fungus-infected creature.

Clementine had stood up too, now, wiping the dirt off of her pants. “I’m… going too, okay? Just shout if you need anything, or… whatever.”

“Okay, we’ll be here if you need anyth-” _Slam_. She’d shut the door on him before he could finish his sentence, not waiting for a reply as she vanished into the office. And, with that, an odd silence filled the room for a several long moments, which had Lee’s half-smile slowly fading away. The facade of confidence he’d been putting on for the past few days finally slipped out of his grasp. He hunched forward, lifting his knees up, and used them to support his elbows as he looked towards the crackling flames under the stove. It was these moments that slowly ate away at his mind. The times where it was silent… no walkers to take out, no buildings to clear, just… himself and the misery that plagued his own thoughts.

“ _I hope you know what you’re doing with her…”_

“ _We’re still alive, aren’t we?”_

There were times that he second-guessed himself on if he was doing the right thing. If he was even qualified to take care of her after everything he’d done. After all, he didn’t have kids, what he had always wanted since the day he got engaged. Clementine, from a young age, from the way she acted around him, always convinced him that he was still a good person… but… he wasn’t. He just _wasn’t_ , because he knew what he was doing, with every passing day, he was just hurting her even more. Would someone like Joel understand that? He didn’t know, but decided that maybe it was time to get it off his chest with potentially the only person he’d ever get the chance to talk about it with. Maybe this moment of peace would be his last chance to get some insight from someone else. Hell, _anything_ … before wherever tomorrow took them. He took advantage of the silence that clouded the room.

“Before I found her in that treehouse… not that long earlier, I, uh… came across a small cabin. Looked like a nice place, didn’t seem occupied, so… that’s when I went inside.” His gaze was fixed onto the flames, not sparing a second glance as his gaze became stagnant, zapped of emotion. The countless nights he had almost lost sleep over this had made him feel numb, a moment’s silence passing before he spoke again. “That’s where I found them… her parents… they hadn’t made it. Gunshot wounds to the head, FEDRA’s work, no doubt.” He recalled, remembering every vivid detail, from the blood splatter, their lifeless, open-eyed eyes, to the way they had been laid out next to each other on the ground. He’d spared her from that horrible truth with the hope that her hopeful spirit would be granted some mercy. He just couldn’t bring himself to break it to her. But, lying to her all these years, maybe that made it worse, and maybe it didn’t. He simply had no luxury of knowing. All he knew was that she wasn’t eight anymore, and the time was coming. “The worst part about it all… is figuring out which day I’ll finally have to tell her.”

Maybe telling Joel about all of this was more about seeking some kind of validation and insight. Was it selfish? He didn’t know. One thing he _did_ know from the first day he met Clementine was that this wouldn’t be something he could keep a secret forever. Did she already know their fate deep down? Was she oblivious or fully aware? Those types of things Lee wouldn’t dare to try and delve into with her.

For a moment, Joel appeared to be lost in thought, and Lee found himself wondering if he’d said too much. The man opened his mouth to say something, but only a soft “yeah” came out, before he nodded, “yeah” coming out again. That’s when Joel’s eyes focused on Lee again, a serious look etched across his face. “You have to tell her. Later, though. Maybe when we’re with the Fireflies, okay?”

“Yeah, it needs to happen…” Lee responded as he looked towards Joel. It was more of an internal thought that he had said aloud, but he knew that he had to… it wasn’t right to conceal her parents’ fate from her, even if he thought it was best in her younger years. “Fireflies, it is. Just gotta take it day by day…”

 

* * *

 

Nothing much was left, unfortunately. Any useful supplies had been picked clean earlier, and most of the rest was just junk. Old magazines, discarded boxes and cans of half-eaten food, and a pack of playing cards, which she promptly tossed into her backpack. Never knew when those would come in handy to avoid boredom. She could still hear Joel and Lee talking in the other room, their voices muffled by the thin walls of the complex. She wasn’t sure what they were talking about now, but it was probably more stuff about the Harleys. Maybe. Whatever the two talked about, anyway. Reminiscing about the days before she was even born. She liked hearing about it, naturally curious about the world that existed before the infection, but sometimes that stuff just went over her head, like the ice cream truck from earlier. Pieces of a bygone age she’d never experience.

She lifted the mattress on one of the bunks, letting out a soft chuckle - well, more like a snort - as her eyes focused on the thing hiding underneath it. _Another one of these? Jeez. Don’t you people have better things to do?_ She picked up the magazine, flicking through it with disinterest. Men, mostly, wearing basically _nothing_. A small smirk pursed her lips as another thought floated through her mind. _Could always give this to Bill, if we ever see that asshole again._ She rolled up the magazine in her hand before plopping down on the mattress. After a moment, she laid down, her feet hanging off the edge of the bed while her head just barely touched the wall.

She kicked her feet back and forth idly, looking up at the box springs of the bed above. There was a faint smell of sweat in the air, presumably coming from the mattress she was laying on. Her nose wrinkled, the girl switching from breathing through her nose to her mouth. At least, that’d keep the smell away for a _little bit_. She dropped the magazine onto the bed, laying her arms underneath her head as she let out a soft, content sigh.

_Bed’s not that bad, without the smell._

Her thoughts dwell on Clementine and Lee for a little while, the events of the past couple days replaying in her head.

With Lee, there wasn’t really that much beyond the time they spent together in the sewer after getting separated from Joel and Clementine, and when he left her and Joel back at the bridge in the city. He wasn’t such a bad guy, though, and accepted the fact she was immune far quicker than Joel had, back in Boston. Maybe he trusted her more, well, at least more than Joel did when they’d first met, or maybe it was just the fact that Clementine and Joel backed her up, providing more proof that it was _real_. Sometimes, she hardly believed it herself, until she looked at that bite and the feeling of anxiety rose up again. There was a lot riding on her, and a lot riding on them getting to the Fireflies. She just hoped that… that they actually made it, that the Fireflies would be there at the end of the road, and the cure with it. She wanted to look back on this journey and see it as the beginning of a time where they didn’t have to live in a constant state of fear. That future was possible, they just had to push a little further.

Then there was Clementine, the girl she nearly killed to save Joel, holding a knife to her throat. First impressions weren’t great, and she was worried about the girl hating her for the rest of the time they spent together, especially since she couldn’t even get the girl to talk to her for a while. That, of course, changed after they shared that candy bar back in the sewer. She had a feeling that chocolate was the last the girl had, and she’d only been trying to be nice to her. That was the main reason why Ellie chose to share it, because not doing so would’ve been a dick move. That was the first time she’d seen the girl crack a smile. Then, after they got separated from Joel and Lee, they spent the entire day together… it killed her to think about it, all those similarities she found in Clementine to Riley. The games, the adventure… basically, well, _everything_ reminded her of her old friend.

That was the last time she’d been able to be that close to someone, to enjoy someone’s company and goof off. She had no other friends, besides a few acquaintances she’d made back when she was in the orphanage, but she hardly talked to them. It was hard to believe that so much of that happened in a short period of time with Clementine, going from an awkward distrust to something that might _actually_ be a friendship. Maybe she was desperate to have another friend, or maybe _Clementine_ was. Hell, maybe they _both_ were. Who knew? She just wished that it didn’t hurt to think about, all those moments with Riley that resurfaced every time she spoke to Clementine. Playing around with masks in the costume shop, posing for pictures in that photo booth, throwing bricks at cars, dancing on top of a display case. Stupid shit that normal people wouldn’t usually do these days, but her and Riley _reveled_ in. There’s no one else she’s ever known that she’d call a friend, let alone her _best friend_ , other than Riley, and that’s what made her passing so fucking difficult to forget about. Especially since Clementine might _actually_ become the second best friend, given time. It felt like it was disrespectful, to Riley’s memory, but… maybe that was just _her_ talking. Maybe Riley would want her to find another friend. Maybe Ellie didn’t know her friend as well as she thought she did. She didn’t really have any answers. Life was full of mysteries, and a lot of them couldn’t be solved.

She took in a deep breath, letting it out in a heavy exhale. Clementine wasn’t Riley. Lee wasn’t just another asshole that’d ditch them at a moment’s notice. They weren’t surrounded by bandits right now. The Fireflies were definitely still out there, waiting for them. Tommy would help them find the Fireflies, no problem. Some of these might’ve been lies, but she didn’t care. Her mind was racing, and maybe hope would be the cure.

At that thought, she let out a sardonic chuckle. _Yeah, that’s the cure alright._

Ellie looked towards the door from where she was reclining on the bed as it creaked open, seeing Clementine enter the room. She pulled herself up into a sitting position, stretching her shoulders briefly. Clem had her hands stuffed inside her pockets, her eyes darting across the office before the girl cleared her throat, walking deeper into the room as her gaze wildly shifted from place to place.

“Find anything?” The question Clementine asked was simple, and Ellie responded to it with a shrug.

“Place is picked clean. Not much left to find but empty cans of food.” She let out a half-sigh, pushing herself off of the bed. Clementine was probably worried about her; she could tell based on the expression on the girl’s face, and she realized then that _maybe_ the girl knew her better than she’d give her credit for. After a moment, she picked up the magazine, rolling it in her hand, before throwing the question that had been plaguing her mind over her shoulder. “Do you find yourself just… worrying over nothing?”

Clementine had started to lean against the wall next to the bunks, arms crossed. Confusion was written across her face as she seemed to process Ellie’s question. “Huh…?”

“Like… you know it’s stupid, but you still do it anyway?” Ellie continued, explaining herself.

_It’s called irrational fear._

She glanced back towards the girl, an uneven frown on her face. After everything that happened in Pittsburgh, she couldn’t stop worrying about those assholes showing up again. They were sitting in the middle of one of their outposts, after all, about as ballsy as you could get, really.

For a moment, Clementine’s gaze turned unresponsive, lost within her own thoughts. She averted her gaze, finally answering Ellie’s question in monotone. “All the time.”

Ellie nodded slowly, taking in the sparse words Clementine had given her. At least it wasn’t just her, then. She let out a sigh, looking away from Clementine for a couple of seconds before finally forcing herself to look back. “It sucks,” she replied, shrugging her shoulders lazily. She took in a deep breath, letting it out in a short exhale. The air was cold, the temperature outside dropping significantly since that morning, although still warm enough that her breath didn’t come out in a thin mist. “Before we got here, I didn’t really… _realize_ it was _this_ bad, out here. Soldiers are dickheads and all, but I’d take them over these bandits any day. It’s got me thinking… how dumb it is to think that the Fireflies are going to be out there, waiting for us. I don’t want to believe it, but… it’s just… _there_ , you know? Like it won’t go away. If it’s like _this_ everywhere, what’s stopping the Fireflies from getting overrun?” She let out a frustrated sigh, stopping herself from continuing down that path. “Like I said, it’s… stupid.”

_And I don’t want you, or Joel, or Lee to die trying to get me there, only to find out that they’re all dead._

Was that the root of it all? She was worried about _dying_? After their close calls recently, maybe there was some merit to that, but still… it was so fucking stupid. Why wouldn’t her brain just learn to shut the fuck up? She hadn’t really had this problem before, not until recently, and it was driving her insane trying to figure it all out. She closed her eyes for a second, forcing her mind to calm the fuck down, before opening them again, and gazing towards Clementine.

“You’re right,” Clementine finally stated, with a hint of… anger? Disappointment? She stared down Ellie, her gaze unwavering. “You’re being stupid.” The girl distanced herself from the wall as she walked towards Ellie, standing in front of her as the girl’s fingers curled into fists. “They’re out there somewhere, and we’re gonna find them. Don’t you ever tell yourself otherwise. Got it?” Her expression softened shortly after her fiery appeal, briefly shutting her eyes in what appeared to be frustration, before making her way back to her previous spot, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed once again. “We’re gonna make it there. All of us.”

Ellie had been taken aback by Clementine’s reaction, not quite sure what to make of it. It was obvious that she believed they’d make it there, all the way, and she admired that. That nagging feeling, now that she was thinking about it, had been there since they left Boston, back when she’d begun to think that the Fireflies at the capitol building were going to be gone, or worse. The thing was… that turned out to be truth. What’s stopping history from repeating itself? _Just don’t think about it, okay?_ She let out a heavy breath, trying to put on a smile for the girl leaning against the wall in front of her. “I guess I live up to my nickname,” she joked, raising her arms out to each side for comedic effect. She let them drop back to her sides, the smile fading away. “Thanks, Clem. I… appreciate that.” After a moment, her attention turned to the magazine still wrapped in her hand, letting out a half-chuckle. With how this conversation was going, she needed to get it away from… well, everything she just said. So, she extended the magazine out to the girl, humor evident in her tone as she spoke. “This was the only thing I found, underneath one of the mattresses. Guess bandits need to, uh, use their downtime _somehow_.”

Clementine blinked. Twice, three times, confusion evident in her expression. The girl leaned forward with interest, before said interest immediately was replaced by shock. “Ellie!” She cried out, turning her head to the side and looking away, both from Ellie and from the magazine. “Put that away!”

Ellie stifled a laugh, tossing the magazine back onto the bed she’d found it under earlier. Clementine’s face was comical, making the little joke worth the fallout it was surely to cause. She managed to stop laughing after about ten seconds, letting out a content sigh. “Sorry. I had to.” She wouldn’t admit it, even to herself, but Clementine looked kinda adorable with her cheeks so flushed. Maybe it was because she’d never really seen that before, on anyone else, but it was enough to make Ellie feel slightly uncomfortable. She took an instinctive step back, trying to put on a serious look on her face. “Forgive me?” She asked the question in a light tone, that humorous attitude she’d adopted still strong in her voice.

Clementine responded to her question with a pout, staring fiercely and angrily back at Ellie with no signs of stopping. Before Ellie could react, Clementine punched her lightly in the shoulder, just strong enough for it to sting a bit. “Dork.” She finally stated, letting out a soft chuckle.

Ellie rubbed her shoulder gingerly. “Ow.” Her voice was a deadpan, yet a smile still pursed her lips. Seeing the girl so flustered was more than enough to put Ellie in a good mood, despite how obviously taken aback Clementine was from all of this. Ellie wasn’t unaccustomed to seeing stuff like that, having seen the magazine Bill had kept, and another one back in the zone, but it must’ve been the first time Clementine had seen anything like that. For Ellie, it’d be simple curiosity, which had been quickly replaced by indifference. She didn’t really see what the big fuss was about, back when a couple of girls at the orphanage had snuck one into the school one day. It was something she’d brushed off as ‘not worth her time’, at the time, and hardly have given it the light of day since, except for the odd joke here and there. Clementine’s reaction had been much more vocal than hers had been, anyway. “You should be careful, Clem,” she continued in a teasing tone, laughing. “Now I know your weak spot.”

“I swear I’m gonna hit you again,” Clementine replied instantly, resting both of her hands on her hips. Before Ellie could answer with another tease, a noise emanated from behind a door on the other side of the room, opposite the one where Joel and Lee resided, cooking their dinner. The sound of _something_ growling, and a chair skidding across a concrete floor at short intervals that could barely be heard through the metal door.

Gulping, Ellie glanced back towards Clementine. _Shit. Doesn’t sound like a clicker, but it doesn’t sound like a runner, either._ “Uh… what the fuck is that?” She asked the question aloud, her hand instinctively going to the knife in her pocket, flicking it open. It sounded vaguely familiar, like she’d heard one before, _maybe_ , but it wasn’t something she remembered specifically. Whatever it was, it didn’t sound friendly, and was behind a door they’d yet to explore. Two things that made this whole situation ten times worse than it probably was.

Clementine slowly walked over to the door, her hand hovering over the holster of her own knife, before stopping and looking back towards Ellie, a vague hint of doubt apparent in her voice, seemingly as though she couldn’t tell whether or not Ellie’s question was a rhetorical one. “It’s a walker.”

 _Walker…_ That sounded vaguely familiar, as if Lee had mentioned it before. It took a moment, but the familiarity of the sound finally connected in her mind, bringing her back to their escape on the bridge, and further back, to her days in Boston, where she’d encountered her first ‘walker’.

“ _C’mon, we’re almost there!” Riley’s voice brought Ellie back to reality, her eyes peeling away from the tiled floor they were walking on and to the other girl. She still didn’t know where the hell Riley was taking her, but they were already halfway across town. Sighing, she picked up the pace, keeping in step just behind the older girl._

“ _And where is ‘there’?” She replied impatiently, trying to get more information out of Riley, but she’d been tight-lipped about the whole ordeal. Keeping it as a surprise, that was so Riley. The girl merely glanced back at her with a mischievous smile._

“ _You’ll see. Now, c’mon!”_

 _She began to open a door at the end of the hallway they’d been walking down, stopping in place as an unfamiliar noise reached Ellie’s ears. The smile Riley had on her face dissipated in an instant, as her eyes were focused on something inside the room. Ellie quickly approached, reaching for the knife she kept in her pocket as she stood next to Riley. What she saw wasn’t quite what she expected. A man, probably no older than twenty, was hanging from the ceiling from a rope tied around the ceiling fan. He swung back and forth like a pendulum, guttural growls escaping his lips in choked spurts. His eyes were a pale, milky white, looking towards them with a furious scowl, reaching out with gray hands. Ellie didn’t know what to say, or what to do. She knew a little about the virus, and how the fungus infected someone, but none of that compared to_ _**this** _ **.** _If the host died, then the virus died with it. That was basic knowledge. But, this man, he was definitely not alive. Not anymore._

“ _Come on,” Ellie finally said, gulping down the lump forming in her throat. “L - Let’s just… get out of here.”_

“ _Right, yeah…”_

“Alright…” she breathed, following Clementine over to the door. “Yeah. Sounds like it might be tied to a chair. Should be easy enough.” _I hope._

Clementine responded with a quick nod, shifting her gaze towards the door in front of them. “Ready?” The girl quietly asked, taking in a deep breath.

She took in a deep breath of her own, positioning herself behind Clementine, knife still clutched tightly in her hand. “Alright. Let’s do this.”

Clementine forced the door open, the two quickly scanning the room for other threats. The metal door lead into a garage, and a fairly sizable one… and it was absolutely _gross_ , too. The floor was covered in blood, had been for what couldn’t have been more than a few days, possibly. The walker tied to the chair looked somewhat recent as well. It didn’t take much creativity to piece together what happened there prior to their arrival, and deducing it honestly made Ellie begin to feel sick to her stomach.

The walker posed no real threat, although it growled at them, yet being weighed down by the chair and ropes around its torso made it appear harmless. All it took was a firm blow to the head, one which Clementine promptly delivered after knocking him down with a powerful kick to the back of its leg, crouching down and burying the knife inside its cranium. Ellie watched, impressed, at how quickly she managed to dispatch the walker. Even if it wasn’t tied up, she imagined the dead thing wouldn’t have been a match for her. She found herself looking into its soulless, white eyes for a moment, before Clementine’s voice brought her out of her reverie.

“Wanna take a look around?” Clem asked Ellie lightheartedly, closing it with a shrug.

“Uh, yeah, sure…” She replied, taking a moment to look around the room.

A van caught her interest. It didn’t look like the others littering Pittsburgh, probably left behind by the bandits for one reason or another. It was possible that it worked, or could be fixed. She approached the car with quick steps, pulling the driver’s door open. The interior of the car was sparse, nearly devoid of any junk, and Ellie took a moment to sit in the driver’s seat, searching for a set of keys that would hopefully be hidden somewhere inside. She found them sitting in one of the cup holders in between the two front seats, and she inserted them into the ignition, turning it with a quick jerk. The car sputtered violently before dying. _Shit._ She tried again, with the same result.

She let out a heavy sigh, looking over towards Clementine, who had been searching through some cabinets nearby. “It’s still got some juice, I think, but we’ll have to get Joe or Lee to look at it. We just _might_ have a ride out of this city.”

Before Clementine could reply, Lee’s voice pierced the air. “Heard a noise?” He peeked his head through the door, looking towards the dead walker on the ground before focusing on the van Ellie was sat in. “Well, I’ll be damned. This was here the whole time?”

Joel stepped through the door after Lee, eyes widening at the sight. “Wow.”

Lee approached the van quickly, looking over the vehicle. “Looks like it’s in good condition… just a matter of _if_ we can get it running.” He scratched his head as he took a step back, kneeling down to check the wheels with a hand on his chin. “Kenny would’ve been good with this stuff,” he mumbled as he examined the underside of the car, crossing his arms as he circled around to examine it further.

Ellie pulled herself out of the van, looking towards Joel and Lee. She hoped that they knew how to fix this thing, just for the possibility of getting out of this city without another run-in with those assholes. She let out a sigh, leaning against the side of the car. “The battery’s fine, I think. Maybe it needs gas, or something?” _Hopefully that’s all it needs…_

“Hmph,” Lee let out the noise as he tilted his head towards the fuel latch, making his way over to it before peeking inside. He stuck his nose near the fuel cap and almost immediately retracting his head. “Nah, that’s not it. There’s definitely fuel in here. It’s pretty cold out, maybe the battery needs warming?”

“Wish we still had antifreeze,” Joel grimaced, looking towards Ellie. “Try and start it again, but hold it there for around… eight seconds. No more than that. Don’t wanna flood it.” He pursed his lips, crossing his arms.

Ellie nodded quickly, hopping back into the van. _Please work, please work…_ She grabbed the keys, still in the ignition, before twisting them, holding them for the allotted eight seconds. As Joel and Lee talked, the sound of sputtering continued to fill the air, before finally being swept away by the faint roar of the engine whirring to life. She smiled victoriously, smacking the side of the steering wheel in triumph. “That’s right! Fuck you, van!” After coming up with all of those potential problems, they’d managed to get the van to work without a hitch. She glanced towards the other three, a smile plastered across her face. “Looks like we’ve got a ride out of this shithole after all.”

That was more than enough to have her feeling less shitty about everything. For once, something was going their way, and they’d be as far away as possible from Pittsburgh come morning. It was finally time to leave this place behind them, and continue on their way to the Fireflies. Just had to make it to Tommy’s, and from there…

They were going to do this. There was no stopping them now.

 


End file.
